For the Future
by SaikouManiac
Summary: 2007 Movieverse Years after the fatal battle that left Megatron offline and the All Spark destroyed, what will happen when a new All Spark is detected? OCx...?
1. The Girl

**Transformers: For the Future – Chapter I: The Girl**

The debris of a meteor flew in all directions as something mysterious flew through it, the thing's tail a light with a flame of white, blue and faded red. It had been wandering through the vast corners of the galaxy for roughly a century, but finally, a faint magnetic pull of a planet lured it towards the globe. The occupant inside, who was a seemingly young human girl, but with pointed ears, around the age of four was being knocked around in her pod.

"_This is it… I'm gonna crash…_" she told herself in her strange language. After a moment of gliding towards the blue planet, the girl's pod was engulfed in flames, the girl getting banged around even more due to the friction on the outside of her husk. As she entered the troposphere, she realized that the sky around her had darkened. It was night on this part of the planet. While flying through the sky, she noticed beings on the ground, shrunken from her height. Through the loud cracking of her pod around her, the alien could hear every word the humans spoke with her sensitive hearing. The language was odd to her, but it seemed familiar.

Everything suddenly went black and the girl felt an immense pain on her forehead and felt something warm trickle quickly down her face and neck. Her perceptive, pointed ears suddenly popped and there was a loud, high pitched sound ringing in her head. She brought her hands up to her ears only to feel more blood pouring out. The girl opened her eyes and realized that she had just crashed, causing a crater in the soft earth, and the dirt to rise in piles fifty meters from her position in a circle, her in the center. Her window was blocked with black smoke, and she couldn't see where she was. Panic rose up inside of her like an uncontrollable monster as she felt the destroyed pod around her heat up.

The alien kicked open the door and stumbled out, only getting far enough, right outside the circle of uplifted earth, to not get damaged by the explosion of her escape from this planet. She collapsed onto her knees; the pain suddenly becoming raw on the now exposed under layers of skin, and that high pitched screeching in her head did not help at all. Before blacking out, she saw something that frightened her: a crowd of humans gathering around her.

----

The doctor exited the girl's room, looking down at his clipboard, a frown on his lips. When he looked up, he expected to see a gaggle of people who had some sort of connection to the girl's appearance. Instead all he saw was a slightly short, slightly plump, white-blond haired, wide-eyed woman. She was completely different from the skinny, black haired, almond eyed tall four-year old.

"Uhm… are you with the little girl..?" the doctor asked the woman who looked up immediately.

"Yes… well no… I suppose so. I'm not a family member, but I'm the one who drove her here. Is she alright?" the woman asked, anxious. The doctor looked at her a moment, and then looked back down at his clipboard.

"She's unstable right now. We're surprised she even survived. Her head has sustained a heavy blow, and her eardrums burst, both of them, she might go deaf. She's lost a lot of blood, but other than that, she's only got minor scratches and bruises. No broken bones or anything.. It's amazing that she even managed to stay alive until now. She is currently on life support. We heard about that crash on the news moments before you showed up here. Do you know what she was doing out there?" the doctor asked the woman, looking up again.

"No. I was just on my way out of the market, on my way home from work, when there was a loud explosion. Naturally, I, like any other passerby, was curious and I got out of my car and I saw the little girl in the middle of the crowd. She was so close to the thing that had landed in the ground. Nobody was doing anything, so I asked a few men to help me carry her into my car and I drove here… Does her family know what's happened?"

The doctor frowned. "Actually… we tried to look her up. But there is no record of her having a family. In fact, she doesn't even seem to have a name, birth certificate, social security number or anything of the sort. While she stays here, we'll have the police try to look her up."

"And if… she's got no family or anything of the sort…?"

"…She will have to be sent to an orphanage."

"N-No. I wouldn't want her to grow up in a place so sad like that after this… if nothing comes up, I would like to take care of her."

The doctor smiled gently at her. "You're a real humanitarian."

----

_Ugh…_The girl laid in the bed, unknowing to where she was. All that concerned her was the aches and pains she felt throughout her whole body, which seemed to pulse from her forehead. Her eyelids flickered, opening slowly, only to shut again against the bright white lights. _Where am I…?_ Fragments of the crash flashed through her mind, but when she tried to search deeper, she found nothing. The landing was all she could remember. When she came to think of it, she didn't even know who she was, how old she was, or anything of the sort. Around her, she could feel slight breezes, as if someone was moving. She could not hear a thing, only the same high pitched noise, but at least it was less intense now. Slowly, she lifted her arm, which felt like a ton, to shield her eyes as she gingerly tried to open her them again.

What she saw surprised her. After she removed her arm, she was looking up at a white, tiled ceiling, the white lights still blazing. Only when a hand was waved in her line of view, did she realize there was someone in the room with her. She looked over to see a woman with a worried expression. Something was wrong. The girl didn't belong here, she, herself, knew it. She needed to leave this place, a place where no one could find her, so that she could think without distractions.

She tried to sit up, but the woman gently pushed her back into the soft bed. The girl looked up irritated at the woman, but was shocked to see that her strange company was talking, her mouth moving slowly, but no sound came out. The girl raised her hand to her ear. They were covered with some sort of rough material that seemed to wrap around her whole head.

Once again, the girl tried to sit up, but the woman persisted. The child became impatient with her and forced herself away from the lady. She looked around, for something that she could see herself in. There was another door that was opened ajar, and led into a smaller room. She walked in and found a mirror. The girl looked at herself, as if she had never seen her reflection before.

Her skin seemed white, almost translucent, showing her veins, a deep blue against her paleness, and her black, shoulder length hair was messy, and caked with dirt and blood. The bandages around her head were red, slightly browning; there was also a long, thin band-aid on her cheek. Her brownish-scarlet eyes were wide, bloodshot and slightly baggy as if she did not sleep the night before. She looked down at herself to see that she was wearing a simple, pale blue dress. After a moment of staring, the girl sensed a pang of pain in her head, and then felt lightheaded and dizzy. She tried to stumble back to the bed, and almost collapsed, had it not been for the woman, who caught and ushered her the rest of the way.

After the girl was tucked in again, a tall, dark haired man in a blue shirt, black tie and white jacket came in. The two strangers talked. The man had a small frown under his nose as the woman jabbered away to him. Then he looked at the girl, slightly shocked at the piercing gaze she was giving the two, and then turned back to the woman, saying something, making the woman cover her mouth with her hands.

The man walked over to the girl, talking, maybe not to her, but talking all the same. By the look in his eyes, he was surprised. Very surprised. A moment passed where the two strangers stared at the girl, making her uncomfortable and then the man flipped some papers on his clipboard and wrote something. He turned the board around and showed the girl what he had traced.

She looked at the strange lines. Some were slanted, some were curved, some were vertical and some were horizontal. What ever it was, it confused her. She looked at the man, showing him her perplexed expression, and the man turned back to the woman, shaking his head.

"It seems that she can't even read anymore. Have you tried talking to her?" the doctor asked.

The woman nodded. "She doesn't say anything. What do think is wrong with her..?"

The doctor looked down at the girl again. "Well… considering the wound to her head, she could have forgotten how to read and possibly who she is, and maybe she's too shocked to speak. Give her a couple of days. She'll come around."

But a week passed, and the girl still did not talk. By now, she was completely healed, to everyone's surprised. She could even hear again, and after being able to hear, she quickly picked up on the language that they were speaking. On the night that she was supposed to leave, the doctor approached the woman who would now be in charge of looking after the girl.

"Ma'am, this little girl seems to be a miracle. Not only has she surpassed her critical state, making the life support that she was so shortly on, unnecessary, but her wounds have healed completely, even her head and eardrums, and in such short time. She can even hear again. If it is okay with you, now that you are her guardian, we would like to have her come in once a week for examinations," he said, acting as if the little girl wasn't standing there.

"Hang on… is… is this why you said that I didn't have to pay her bill? Because you wanted to ask me if you could conduct tests on her? She's a human, not a science experiment, Doctor! No, you can't take her in for "examinations"! I'll be paying her bill now, and we'll be leaving." The woman held out her hand expectantly for the invoice, but after a moment, the doctor shook his head.

"No, forget about the bill. I understand why you don't want to let us examine her. I'll pay your bill from my own pocket. You are a real saint, miss. If only there were more people in the world like you," the doctor said, smiling admirably at her.

----

After leaving the hospital, and staying with the woman, who identified herself as Chloe Banksfield, and her daughter, Liz, they asked the girl what she wanted to be called. The child looked up at them, thinking a moment and then said in a surprisingly sleek voice for a four year old:

"Raven."

"Raven? Why that?" Liz asked.

But the girl shrugged.

"Alright then, you are now, Raven Banksfield—" Chloe began, but Raven cut her off.

"No, just… just Raven."

"Oh," Chloe looked hurt, but when she saw that the girl was watching her, she smiled and nodded.

Afterwards, the three picked out a birth date for the girl. They ended up choosing the day that Raven had been found, bloodied and injured in the clearing: October 13th. Then the next day, they went to go and get her a birth certificate, a social security card and an enrollment in a school that she would start attending come November, the next month.

----

Three years passed, and the three females grew closer together. Raven was now attending elementary school, which she seemed too smart for, even though she had skipped two grades already and had started a year earlier than most children. She was now a seven year old in the fifth grade, and at the top of her classes. Liz, who was six years older than the girl was in the eighth grade and happy with where she stood, even though it seemed that her younger step-sister was a child prodigy. She was proud.

One day, when Raven had ridden her bike to the park without Chloe or Liz's knowing (who were in the backyard, gardening), there came a low rumbling and the ground began to shake. There was a loud crash from the house, causing the two to turn around, only to see that their home had been completely demolished under the weight of what appeared to be two giant robots, wrestling each other. The two females screamed and ran from the house, gathering on the streets far enough to watch the bots duke it out.

Chloe suddenly screamed and tried to run to her now crushed house when two men who lived on her street held her back.

"What is it Mrs. Banksfield?!" asked one of the men.

"M-My step-daughter! My step-daughter! She's still inside my house! I have to get her out!!" Chloe struggled against the men but to no avail. Only after the robots had gone, and the police and firemen showed up was she allowed to approach her house. Chloe and Liz were trembling, tears pouring from their eyes like rivers, unable to accept the fact that the innocent seven-year-old girl, who had just been getting used to her surroundings was killed, crushed underneath all that weight. Many houses on the block were destroyed, and so Chloe and Liz were herded, like the other now homeless families to the local church that was two miles from the neighborhood.

An hour later, little Raven rode her bike back to what now looked like a demolition area. Shocked, the girl didn't watch where she was going and steered her bike directly in a pothole in the street. She was flung from her bicycle, and skidded across the hard concrete. After a moment, Raven sat up, now covered in lightly bleeding scrapes. She stood up, slowly and painfully, her skinny body shaking and walked over to the wood covered lot that was her house. For hours she stood there, staring and finally started trying to scavenge around, hoping that Chloe and Liz would pop up out of the debris, laughing and yelling, "GOTCHA!" But they didn't.

At dusk, the girl decided to leave her home, her hands now bloody with splinters and deep cuts. She slowly walked towards the setting sun, unaware to where her legs were carrying her, transfixed by the red-orange light. When the darkness had completely fallen, she treaded across a driveway, where a bright yellow, double striped car sat. It caught her eye because of its bright colour in the suffocating night, and because most cars were not this brightly coloured, that she had seen. It was like a breath of fresh air. She walked up to it and placed a bloody hand on its hood. She looked down at the crisp, bright paintjob, and tried several times, until she finally managed to smile, but meekly, and after that, she collapsed, her head hitting the car rather hard with a dull "THUD".

----

Raven was now conscious, but everything was still dark. She no longer felt the harshly cold wind around her, or the hard concrete underneath her. In place of those outside-ish things, was a warm feeling, as if there was a tame fire around, and the softness of a cushion. She tried to sit up, or move one of her limbs, but failed after many attempts. At last, she heard footsteps, though they didn't sound familiar. They were light and quick, very unlike Chloe's or Liz's. At the thought of someone who could help her, she tried to move again, and even tried to speak, but it seemed like she had no results until a feminine voice shouted out: 

"Ohmigawd! Sam! I think she just moved! Sweetheart, can you hear me? How are you feeling?" When there was no vocal answer from the girl, the voice said: "If you _can_ hear me, try to move your finger again!" Apparently Raven had managed to twitch her finger once more, because the voice, now apparent that it belonged to a grown woman, yelled: "Sam! Hurry up!"

There were loud, rushing footsteps. "Is she okay? Did she respond?" asked a male voice.

"Yeah, she did. She didn't speak, but she managed to move her finger," replied the woman's voice. "Listen, sweetheart, whatever happened to you, you were pretty banged up, and you even left a bloody trail on our car outside. We don't know how far you've traveled, or anything, but you're going to stay here until you're better. We're already starting to put up signs about you all over and—"

Over the woman's voice, Raven heard the male's voice, speaking in low tones, and far away. Her brain couldn't make out what he was saying, but in response to him, came a low, mechanical whine. An odd sensation shot up into Raven's heart, making it beat faster. That whine sounded familiar, but the girl couldn't figure out from where.

After a moment, everything went quiet, and when Raven finally managed to open her eyes, she was in a cozy house, on a soft sofa with a warm blanket over her, and once again, she was covered in band-aids. Raven sat up, slowly and looked at out the glass doors behind the sofa. Dawn was breaking.

Raven sat there a moment, thinking about what had happen in the last couple of hours, only looking up when she heard footsteps on the stairs. The man and woman who had helped her were advancing on her.

"How do you feel?" the woman asked. She had no wrinkles or gray hair, but she still had a slightly aged look about her. The girl could tell that in the woman's days of youth, she had drawn a lot of attention with her beauty.

The girl looked away and muttered something incoherent. The man stepped in her line of vision, smiling kindly down at her. He wasn't all that different from his wife, although his eyes looked a bit more tired. "Well, since you're going to be staying with us for a few days, I suggest we introduce ourselves. I'm Sam Witwicky, and this is my wife Mikaela Banes Witwicky. What's you're name?"

"I'm Raven, but you can call me Rev, and I want to thank you for helping me recover. I don't know what became of me… Oh, and I'm sorry about the blood on your car."

"Don't worry about it," Sam said.

"Rev? How did you come up with that?" Mikaela asked.

Raven told the couple about how one day she had nothing to do in class and decided to mix up the letters in her name. She had switched the two vowels, and that's how Rev came about.

"Oh. Well that's clever," Mikaela said, smiling. "Now why don't you tell us what happened?"

After a moment's hesitation, she briefly told Mikaela and Sam about how she had come back to a destroyed home, and tried to search the debris, but gave up trying to find the two women and hoped that they had gotten out safe and sound.

"I'm sorry to hear about your loss. But you can stay here until you decide otherwise," Sam said.

Raven looked around. "This is a very nice house, it seems rather aged, but still in good condition."

Sam looked at Mikaela, both surprised. "Well, yes, it's aged because this house used to belong to my parents before they moved to Europe."

Raven nodded in understanding and then turned away to watch the sun rise. Mikaela had long wandered off into the kitchen to prepare breakfast, and Sam went outside to the driveway. After a while, Raven got up and followed after Sam, but he was no where to be seen, all that was there was the yellow, double-striped car, sitting peacefully, it seemed, in the soft light of the early morning sun. Raven went over to it and sat next to its front right wheel, hugging her knees close to her body. After a moment, Raven began to speak.

"I… I want to thank you. I think you saved my life last night, just by being there. …I know what you truly are. You… you don't have to hide it from me. I don't know why or how I know, but I just do. And… and that sound you made before… it's familiar to me… I remember it, as if I've heard it all my life. Please… just show me… I… I feel like I have to see you…" She put a hand on the side of the car but looked up immediately when she realized that there was a woman standing there with her child, both of them staring. The mother walked away quickly, tugging her child, who was looking back curiously at Raven. She heard the child say to her mother:

"Mommy, is that girl crazy?"

After a moment, when the mother thought that they were out of the girl's hearing range, she said, "Yes. Yes she is, don't ever talk to her."

Raven was surprised that she could hear the mother, even though she was already half a block away, but it sounded as if the woman had been right there in front of her when she said it.

Raven sighed in defeat after looking at the car once more, and then stood up turning to see Sam standing there, staring at her sympathetically. "Breakfast is ready."

During the meal, Raven, who did not have much of an appetite, noticed that Sam and Mikaela were talking secretly with their eyes. Mikaela looked a bit panicked, while Sam looked confused. Afterwards, Sam said something about having to go on an errand run, left immediately, and did not return until night fall. Meanwhile, Mikaela and Raven shared several awkward silences over some herbal tea.

Finally, after a slow day, Raven lay down on the sofa and pulled the blanket up to her chin. She had trouble sleeping, but was persistent and kept her eyes closed. Sometime during the night, Raven heard Mikaela and Sam walking quietly down the stairs and out the door, closing the entrance behind them. Outside, Raven heard several cars pull up and then an odd whirring, and clicks. After a moment, she heard a low, rumbling voice, and she could no longer keep her curiosity at bay and walked barefooted to the door that the couple had left, opening it a crack to see.

Outside, four giant robots were looking down at Mikaela and Sam, speaking as quietly as they could. Although her eyes widened, Raven was not surprised to see them, and for some reason or other, she felt as if she had met them before. She did not know why she felt this but she did. She watched the robots for a moment, observing all of them, a hint of familiarity from all of them, but when her eyes rested on the biggest one, the one who was apparently the leader, her whole body froze and only one name came to mind.

"Optimus Prime."


	2. Spark

**Transformers: For the Future – Chapter II: Spark**

Raven covered her mouth, as all eyes turned on her, realizing that she said the name out loud. Slowly, she lowered her hands and stared up at the robots. The leader, Optimus leaned down on one knee and looked closely at the small sliver of Raven through the door and then asked suspiciously, "How do you know my name?"

Raven, who had backed away slightly, being engulfed in darkness, shook her head, her lips clamped shut.

"Come out here," ordered the silver robot behind Optimus.

Hesitantly, Raven obeyed, keeping her hands fastened tightly together in behind her back and her lips sealed. She looked down, her jet black hair swiveling to the front, hiding her face. She was shaking in fear now, her pale skin turning a lighter shade from dread. She had heard what the six of them were talking about. They were talking about her. She had not heard the whole conversation, only bits and pieces of it, her name popping out the most, and some slivers of her talking to Sam's car. What did they want, and why was the fact that she knew what the car was such a big deal?

Raven jumped when a thick, metallic finger parted her hair. The robot's head was surrounded by what looked like a yellow helmet, the same colour as Sam's car. Its blue optics stared at Raven kindly.

Mikaela walked over to the girl and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Raven. The Autobots are good guys. They won't hurt you."

"Raven? Is this the girl?" Optimus asked, his deep voice ringing in the air and sending chills up Raven's spine.

Sam nodded.

"Please give us a moment alone with her." Sam and Mikaela gave Raven a supporting pat before they left, closing the door behind them. After the couple left, there was an awkward silence in which the Autobots observed Raven, who seemed to be glowing in the moonlight.

"Before we begin, let us introduce ourselves properly. As you somehow know already, I am Optimus Prime. That is Ironhide, Ratchett and Bumblebee." They all gave a small gesture or wave, indicating who they were.

"I'm… Rev," Raven said, still looking away.

There was an awkward silence that stretched for over a few minutes once more, the Autobots staring down at Raven again, who still would not look up at them, her face burning as she felt their gaze upon her.

"Rev. You said you knew what I truly was. How is that…?"

Raven looked up. It was Bumblebee who spoke. The others remained quiet, waiting for her reply.

"…I don't know really. When I first saw all of you… I felt as if I had known you before… I don't know why. I've had a lot of weird feelings since—" Raven stopped dead, not wanting to talk about her crash.

"Since…?" Ratchett inquired, but Raven shook her head.

"But I've definitely met all of you before. I don't know when, or how," Raven said, finally looking up, her gaze, intense.

Ironhide leered down at the girl and whipped out his cannon. "Perhaps she is a Decepticon spy… I will terminate her now."

Raven suppressed a squeak of fear, squeezing her eyes shut and waited for the blast as Ironhide's cannon whirred to life, the word Decepticon floating around in her head and cropping up more familiar names.

"Hold on, Ironhide. We can't jump to conclusions. Maybe she saw us fighting the battle in the city all those years ago," Optimus suggested. Ironhide, annoyed, put his cannon away.

"That would explain how she recognizes us, but not how she knows our names and what we are… She looks a bit too young to be alive from all those years as well. How old are you, Rev?" Ratchett asked.

Raven opened her eyes, and looked around. When she was very sure that she had not been blasted to bits, she looked up at Ratchett and shrugged. "Everyone thinks I'm seven, but I don't think I am. I… feel a lot, _a lot_ older than seven years old. I think I could be an adult, trapped in a child's body…"

Ratchett and Ironhide exchanged skeptical looks. Raven caught this and leered up at them, her brows furrowing together and making her look even younger.

"I'm serious! And your Decepticon friends? I know them too! Megatron, Starscream, Blackout, Barricade, Frenzy, I know all of them, as well as your Autobot allies, Cybertron, and the Allspark that you destroyed!!" Raven had not meant to admit about her knowledge of their enemies, allies, home, and reason for war, but it had slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it, and what was more, her tongue didn't stop there. "And about that battle in the city that resulted in Megatron's death, I know about that too. The Allspark was pushed into his chest. But don't get comfortable with this peace! He'll be back!"

The Autobots stared down at Raven, shock written across their metallic faces and silence was laid down like cotton wool at her knowledge and foreshadowing threat. The girl, finally realizing what she had said, backed away slowly. "Uhm… I have to go now." And with that, Raven dashed into the house, slamming the door before the Autobots could say anything else.

----

The next day, the Autobots requested to see Raven again, but she refused to go out, making excuses not to go. She was afraid of more information she didn't know that she had would come out, but at the same time she was curious.

Throughout most of the day, Raven sat concealed at a window, watching Bumblebee sit in the driveway. It was like he was tempting her, daring her to come outside. The others were with him, and Optimus drew a lot of attention from the passersby who walked passed the house, shooting odd looks at the three new cars, at the sirens of the seemingly medic vehicle and at the semi that had been sitting outside the house all day, making them think there had been some sort of medical accident that involved the couple and two others.

"They seem to really want to talk to you… Why don't you go out there…?" Mikaela stood behind Raven, who was staring miserably out of the window at the Autobots sometime in the late afternoon.

The girl did not reply immediately, but when she did, she said softly: "…I'm afraid."

"Why? They won't hurt you. They're good—"

"I know. But… I just have an odd feeling about what I'll say, or what they'll say."

Mikaela frowned, but walked away, not wanting to prod at it anymore.

When evening came, the Autobots transformed, so that they towered over the houses once again. They seemed to still be waiting for the girl to come out. They were persistent. Raven was still watching them. She watched as they waited, talked, and mingled the time away. At one point, Ironhide went up to Ratchett and started to talk to him about something on his wrist; probably his cannons. A sudden urge filled Raven at this moment, as her eyes concentrated on the medic. It was as if her body was telling her to do something that would change her life forever.

Before she could stop herself, Raven marched out the door and over to Ratchett, craning her neck up to look at him.

"Yes?" Ratchett said, after staring down at the girl for a minute, awkwardness etched across his face.

"I want to ask you something," Raven admitted boldly, swallowing her fears.

"….What is it?" Ratchett hesitated, sensing an odd question from the girl.

"Can you show me your spark?" she asked bluntly.

Ratchett kneeled down on one knee, staring at her. "Why do you want to see my spark?"

"It's not that I want to specifically see your spark… I— Let me rephrase that question… Seeing as how you are the chief medic, and you're experienced in repair, would you show me how to repair a being such as yourself, a Transformer?"

Ratchett raised a brow. "…Is there any reason why you want to learn how to repair a Transformer?"

Raven looked down at the ground, her fingers shuffling with the hem of the shirt that Mikaela had let her borrow. "Mm… no, but my body, and something in the back of my head is telling me to ask you," she looked up, determined at Ratchett. "So I guess that it's important. Please. Would you show me how?"

The medic gazed down at the girl another moment, and then up at Optimus. The leader gave him a look and nodded. Ratchett turned to the girl again. "Alright, but you have to answer anything we ask you. Is it a deal?"

Raven, who had expected this question ever since she opened the door, looked around a moment, biting her bottom lip, her fears resurfacing, and then said, "Okay. I will."

"…We'll start as soon as it is completely dark."

While waiting in the backyard with the Autobots, the robots decided to probe Raven with questions again, and once more, Raven answered without truly knowing how she knew the answers. Inside, the girl's stomach writhed with nervousness. She kept questioning if what her body forced her to do was something that would really help her understand what she was going through.

Stars began to pop up in the darkening sky and Ratchett beckoned Bumblebee, who had agreed to be the "demonstration," to lie down on the ground. Optimus and Ironhide sat in the background, watching the girl closely. Raven, who could not see from the ground, had to climb on to Bumblebee's chest. Before beginning, Ratchett stared down at the girl once more, scrutinizing her closely, noticing her pointed ears. He ignored the detail for the moment and began speaking, explaining about a Cybertronian's skeletal structure, and wire and spring workings, opening up Bumblebee's armour, ever so carefully as he spoke, and showing her what and where everything was and how to repair it in certain occasions, and everyday happenings.

It was well past three o'clock in the morning when Ratchett began talking about how a Cybertronian could sustain life. Raven was not tired in the least. She sat there, watching and listening to everything, her brain soaking every piece of information that was released from between Ratchett's metallic lips.

"Underneath the very place that you sit is Bumblebee's spark casing, and inside that, his spark, his very life, or his heart, in human terms." Before Raven, a small area opened slowly, showing another pair of "doors" opening exposing a bright light. Curious, Raven leaned over a little, peering down in the hole in the Autobot's chest. Inside was a radiant energy. The light was dazzling and blinding. There seemed to be streaks of light blue in the whiteness of the life.

Underneath Raven, Bumblebee shuffled, uneasy and a bit paranoid about exposing his spark in the wide open without any cover. The girl, who had apparently been leaning in a bit too far, now practically on her knees, felt Bumblebee's shifting and lost her balance, falling forward. Luckily for them both, Raven caught herself on the other side of the opening by the tips of her fingers. She sighed with relief, squinting her eyes against the brightness of the spark, but suddenly, as if the fact was slapping her in the face, Raven felt the sweatiness of her hands and fingers. They were slipping from the sleek metal. Thinking quickly, she pressed her long nails against the metal to prevent her from falling, but it seemed as if her hand was reaching out to the spark now. Powerless against her body, one of the girl's hands let go of the metal and reached down to Bumblebee's heart, sinking itself into the energy.

It all seemed to happen so quickly before Ratchett's eyes. He noticed Bumblebee shuffle, and he saw the girl lose her balance and catch herself, but he was not prepared to see one of her hands slip into the spark. He heard Bumblebee let out a low, guttural gasp at feeling his spark being touched, but the girl said nothing. Almost immediately after she touched the life, she was shot backwards into the wooden fence and landed limp and unmoving on the ground. Her hand was burned, the skin scorched black. Everyone rushed to her, gathering around the body. It didn't seem as if she was breathing. Bumblebee rushed over to the house and knocked on Sam's bedroom window. As soon as the couple saw the girl unconscious, now gathered in Ratchett's hand, they rushed outside and pulled her back into the house, tending to her hand, and checking her back, neck and head for any injuries. She seemed to be alright. No broken bones, no spilled blood, just burned skin. Mikaela put ointment on her smoldered hand and then wrapped it up.

"What happened to her?" Sam asked.

The Autobots looked at each other and then explained.

"I see. …Don't worry Bee; it's not your fault. It was an accident," Sam added when he noticed his friend hanging his head in shame.

"Sam! Come quick, she's waking up!"

Sam rushed over to the couch, where Raven was stirring from her unconscious state, the Autobots peering in through windows and the opened door. Her bright, now completely scarlet eyes fluttered open, rolling around in their sockets, and observing their surroundings. The girl sat up slowly, holding her head with her uninjured hand as if she had a terrible migraine.

"Ugh… What happened…? It feels like I was in an explosion or something…"

After Sam explained to her, Raven sat on the couch, her chin resting on her knees. Her eyes were lowered and the corners of her mouth drooped into a frown, giving her a look of deep concentration. After a long moment of silence, Raven straightened up, her eyes now half closed. She muttered something incoherent and stood up, unwrapping her damaged hand, revealing untouched, unburned skin. The girl stood there a moment, slowly revolving her hand around, observing it. Everyone else stared as well, amazed, and suspicious.

Raven walked, to the bathroom, where her old clothes hung. Everyone noticed that her walk had changed; she was more… brisk and serious in her step. After a moment, Raven appeared again in her old clothes. They matched her even less now. While they were bright, colourful and childish, her face was hard, serious, and even older looking.

After pulling on her shoes, she walked up to Sam and Mikaela who were both still sitting where they were, their faces frozen in the same expression.

"I want to thank you. You have nursed me and cared for me as if I were your own. You people are very kind, and I wish the very best for you. As much as I would not want to, I must go."

The two snapped out of their shock and looked down at the girl, worry now in their eyes. "You're leaving?" Sam asked.

"Yes."

"Where will you go, with your house destroyed? Won't you at least stay until someone calls for you from our notices?" Mikaela questioned, her voice longing to keep the girl there, safe and out of hurt.

Raven looked down, and then back up at the two. "No. I cannot. I suppose that I will just go to the orphanage for the time being. I don't want to be more of a burden than I already am."

The couple was about to protest, as if they were teenagers again, but when the saw the girl's hardened expression, they knew that there was no convincing her otherwise. At last, they nodded. "Alright, but just know… You're always welcomed here. Anytime," Sam said, Mikaela nodding in agreement.

Raven managed a small smile and walked away, heading for the backdoor. She suddenly stopped and stood where she was for a few seconds, then she turned around and walked back to the two, hugging them. "Thank you."

Sam and Mikaela, who had hoped that she had changed her mind, put on sad smiles when they realized she was still leaving, but at the same time accepting her thanks. They hugged her back and let go only reluctantly when she turned again. They watched her as she walked out the door. She walked across the yard, not looking at the Autobots, but knowing that they were watching her, expecting her to turn around and say something to them. But she didn't. Bumblebee transformed into his Camaro form and drove up to her, offering her a ride, desperate to know that she would get to her destination safely, and voicing his wish. She did not stop when she denied his company, and told him in a business-like voice that she would be alright. Bumblebee slowed and stopped, transforming again, and watching her as she was swallowed by the darkness.

By the time the sun rose again, she was gone, nothing left except the image of her walking away to the gloom.


	3. Back Again

**Transformers: For the Future- Chapter III: Back Again**

Sam woke with a start. He had fallen asleep on the porch again; today was his day off and he just wanted to relax. Mikaela warned him about doing that and suggested that he stop sitting outside, or at least wait until the sun began to set, but Sam never listened. He enjoyed the feeling of the warm sun, but that was what put him to sleep every time he sat outside too long. He felt old for doing it, even though he wasn't all that aged.

Sam leaned back in the swinging bench, enjoying the cool breeze brought on by the evening. He closed his eyes, seeing the face of that little girl, who he had just been dreaming about, from all those years ago. It had been nine years since she disappeared. Since then, she had not visited them once. Not even to see the Autobots, even though she did not seem very fond of the Cybertronians. Sam thought that maybe her childish curiosity would drive her back to them. He had to admit, he missed her company, although it did not last long enough for him to get used to it.

The man opened his eyes when he heard a motorcycle pull up. He looked out into the road and saw a person clothed in black biker leather, and a helmet to match the outfit and bike. The person climbed off of their motorcycle after they parked right in front of his house and walked up the concrete path that Sam's father had laid out so many years ago.

Sam got up from the swinging bench, walked off the porch and watched as the person made their way up to him, still not removing their helmet. He felt anxious about being randomly confronted by a complete stranger who did not reveal their face right away.

The two people stood there, separated by only a few feet between them now, staring at each other. Chills were sent up and down Sam's spine when he heard the muffled voice of the stranger saying his name. It was only once, but it was enough to give him odd sensations for the whole day.

"Who are you?" Sam asked, backing away slightly, his heel hitting the bottom step to the wooden porch.

The person reached up to their chin with black gloved hands to unclip the helmet strap and remove the thing from around their head, revealing a young woman with pale, porcelain skin, deep, scarlet, almond-shaped eyes, full, pink lips, and sleek, straight, jet-black hair tied back in a low pony tail.

Sam stuttered when he saw her. He didn't know what to say. This young woman was oddly familiar to him, but he just couldn't wrap his mind around who it was, but when she spoke in her smooth voice, he felt the same chills rush up his spine and settle at the back of his head where the feeling faded into a fuzzy sensation.

"Hello, Sam. It's me… do you remember…?"

"Rev!!" Sam pulled the girl into a back breaking hug, lifting her off her feet and squeezing her body. He was speechless and couldn't think of anything to say, so this was how he expressed that he missed her so much, even though they didn't really get to know each other in those few days all those years ago, he felt a connection to her, he felt sympathetic for her, and he wanted to adopt her as a daughter as soon as he heard her sad story. When he released her, he gave her a big smile.

"How are you? What've you been doing?" A frown suddenly shaped his lips and he turned his back on her, folding her arms across his chest like a stubborn woman. "Why haven't you come to visit us before this?" he asked in a cold tone. Behind him, Raven chuckled quietly.

"I've been fine, until now I've been helping at the orphanage taking care of the new arrivals, and I didn't come to visit you, because I'd thought that you and the others had forgotten about me and I didn't just want to suddenly show up out of nowhere. But it seems like I did," Raven answered in the same brisk, business-like voice that she so shortly picked up before leaving, but chuckling at her last statement.

"We would never forget about you!" Sam said loudly, sounding offended and spinning around to face her.

Raven smiled slightly and chuckled, which made Sam forget about what he was somewhat insulted for.

"Well, come in, come in. I'm sure you'd like to see the Autobots. I'll have Bee call them once we get settled," Sam said, patting the girl's back and leading her towards the house. He stopped and turned back when he realized that Raven wasn't with him. "Rev?" he asked.

"A-Actually… I'd like to see Mikaela first…" Raven said, not voicing that she didn't want to see the Autobots. Not immediately anyway.

"Oh," Sam said, hanging his head slightly, his smile drooping into a sad frown.

Raven noticed this and walked up to him, hesitantly putting a hand on his shoulder. "Sam? What is it? What happened to Mikaela??" Sam looked up at her sadly. "Oh. I… I'm sorry. I didn't know that she passed—"

"Passed? No, she didn't pass on. She's just in Europe. Without me," the man said bitterly.

"Oh. Well, why aren't you with her?" Raven asked, relieved to hear that Mikaela was alright and well.

"I was. We were visiting my parents, and then we decided to go explore the rest of Europe. It was around Italy, I believe, that I slipped on some mud and fell hard on a rock. Well we went to a doctor there, and he said that I fractured my hip and tail bone, which is really weird because I did fall on my back, but I suppose that its better this way, don't have to worry about getting paralyzed, y'know? Well anyway. The doctor said that I should just head home and rest. Mikaela insisted that she go with me, but I told her that she should stay and enjoy the rest of Europe. That was a couple of weeks ago. She should be back any day now… Well, why don't you come in?"

Raven nodded and followed Sam into his house. She sat down on the couch while Sam went to go get refreshments. Out in the driveway, Raven saw Bumblebee faced towards the streets. The girl felt a jolt of excitement rush up her body when she saw him, but turned away when Sam sat down with a tray of iced tea.

"So how has life been for you? Better I hope," Sam added, handing a tall glass to Raven.

"It's been alright," the girl stated, taking the tea and thanking him.

"…How's it been at the orphanage?" Sam asked, looking over his glass at her suspiciously.

Raven took her time, drinking her tea slowly, looking around, and thinking about how to tell him. When she finally looked at the man, her expression was indifferent. "Well... ever since I left… I lived in the orphanage, helping the caretakers and what not. It was like I was there to work instead of to live, really. I took care of the children, feeding and grooming them, playing with them, and making them feel better. With the older kids, I broke up the fights, and gave them advice. I also greeted the foster parents and took them around the place, introducing them to the kids, getting them adopted and what not. Soon, I was sent to a high class private high school. I graduated just last week actually… and there have been several exclusive colleges asking for me—"

"What? You graduated high school? At… sixteen?! That's great! Have you thought about what college you're going to pick?"

Raven shook her head. "I think I'm going to wait until the appropriate age to start college. And… if it's okay with you… I'd like to come live here. With you and Mikaela."

Sam was speechless. He was happy of course, but this was an utter surprise that she was the one who asked to live with them. He put down his glass and hugged the girl tightly. "Of course, Mikaela will be so excited. But… what about the orphanage?" the man asked, letting go of Raven. "Won't the children be disappointed that you won't be there anymore?"

"…Well… That's the thing. There is no more orphanage for me to go back to. The orphans who don't get adopted soon will be sent to another orphanage. And besides, didn't you hear? It was destroyed."

"What?! When?"

"About a day before I came back from school. Apparently, the caretakers and the orphans were out on a trip to a beach just outside of town, but when they came back, the place was completely torn apart. Nothing was left standing, and since there are no witnesses, the police can only assume that it was an earthquake. But they all know it's not, otherwise everyone in the city would have felt it, and nobody did."

"Well, that's odd…"

"Indeed. If my hunch is correct, then what happened to the orphanage is the same thing that happened to Chloe's house. Or at least something related to it."

The two sat there a moment in the silence, thinking things over until they were interrupted by Bumblebee honking his horn twice.

Sam excused himself and got up to leave for the driveway. Raven watched as the man talked to the Autobot, who was still in his disguise. Even though she was inside, Sam and Bumblebee were outside, and there was a wall between them, Raven could still hear everything with her pointed ears, although the voices were slightly muffled. She didn't mean to eavesdrop on their conversation, but it wasn't like she could turn off her hearing or something.

"What's up, Bee?" Sam asked, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back slightly.

"You must remember that you have an appointment in thirty minutes," Bumblebee said in a bored voice, almost making him sound like a secretary.

"What?"

"You asked me to remind you. Remember?"

"Oh! Right! But… I've got a guest in there, and I can't really just ask her to leave."

"Her? Who is it?" the Autobot asked, sounding apprehensive.

"Don't worry, Bee, it's nothing like that. I love Mikaela and you know it! …You remember that little girl who passed out on you nine years ago?"

Bumblebee was quiet.

"Well she's in there right now! And guess what! She wants to come live with us! Isn't it exciting?!" Sam asked, unfolding his arms, punching the air, and dancing in place like a teenager again, but stopped when he realized that Bumblebee didn't seem so enthusiastic. "What, you don't like her or something?"

"That's not it. I'm very glad that she's come back. She was… adorable. But you still shouldn't forget about your doctor's appointment," the bot said, his voice even and emotionless, quickly changing the subject.

"Right, I'll get dressed and everything. Maybe I should ask her to come too! Would it be okay if she came too, Bee?" Sam asked, looking at his friend's headlights.

"Yes, of course."

----

Raven did not say anything to Bumblebee when she drove to the back on her bike. She merely waited while Sam pulled out of the driveway and off to the main road. The Autobot observed the girl who drove along side them, her long, tied back hair whipping dramatically in the rushing wind.

"Sam, do you think that I should… contact Optimus about her?" Bumblebee asked.

"…Sure, if you want to. What's the matter, Bee? Something got your engine?"

"…I don't know. I just feel like… something… _exciting_… will happen."

"Exciting? Exciting as in good or bad?"

"Both."

----

At the doctor's office, Raven assisted Sam out of Bumblebee and through the door even before removing her helmet. The two stayed in there for a long time, and when they finally came out, Sam was doubled over with a miserably sour expression and Raven had finally removed her helmet. She was holding it under one arm with a small bag, and supporting Sam with her other.

When at home, Bumblebee transformed and was kneeling down and looking into one of the windows, listening to Sam complain about how the nurse had dropped a latex glove on the floor, which made him slip and fall again, causing him more pain. Meanwhile, Raven was opening the small bag and taking out a small, orange container with a white cap. She unsealed it and retrieved two small white pills and brought them over, with a glass of water to Sam, who was now lying on his stomach on the couch, rubbing his hips and grumbling.

After Sam drank down the painkillers, Raven helped him up to his room and told him to rest, then came down and plopped down on the couch, tired. She sat up a moment to remove her jacket and gloves, very aware that Bumblebee was watching her carefully, revealing her petite figure. She got up and walked through the door, staring up at Bumblebee.

"Alright, what's gotten into you? I know you've been watching me all day, so don't try to deny it. If you've got something to say then say it. Are you mad at me for some reason? Yell at me then. Are you—?"

"I am not mad, or disappointed, or anything at you, Rev," Bumblebee interrupted, sitting down and leaning back on one arm, a hand on his knee.

"Then what is it?"

The bot stared at her for a moment and then turned his head. "It is… nothing."

Raven watched him for a minute and then merely shrugged and walked back into the house.

Outside, Bumblebee lay back on the ground, staring up at the stars that began popping up in the evening sky. He was pondering whether or not his odd feelings were worth warning Optimus about.

Inside, Raven was sitting on the couch, drinking a cup of hot herbal tea and thinking things over in her mind.

----

A few days later, Sam was sitting out on the porch again, drinking a glass of iced water, which Raven had brought to him earlier. It was a hot afternoon, and Sam was sweating it out, but he stayed. Feeling drowsy, the man closed his eyes slowly, slipping quickly into a light sleep.

In his doze, he dreamed of himself, Mikaela, Raven and Bumblebee in Europe, enjoying the sights, sounds and food. Sam and Mikaela had walked out of their hotel, giggling and holding each other's hands, and Raven drove up in Bee, wearing a bright smile. She revved Bee's engines a little and then shut it off, getting out of the car and closing the door with a quiet _click_. She walked around the front of Bee in European fashion, her heels ticking lightly with each step on the concrete. She strolled over to the other side of Sam and stopped. The girl looked around, then at Sam and called out in a high voice, much different than her normal tone, "Excuse me!"

For some reason, she kept repeating it, looking at him like she was confused. "Uhm… Hello? Excuse me, sir!"

Sam jerked awake and looked around, his eyes still droopy with sleep. "Ouh... it was just a dream…"

"Sir, excuse me, but I'd like to ask you something!"

Sam looked over to the road, where a young woman stood, holding a baby's car seat. She was somewhat short, and her curves had a bit of a portly shape to them. Her hair was shoulder blade length, and light brown, the colouring bringing out the shine in her blue eyes. She was wearing the kind of clothes that Mikaela used to wear, and her heels ticked on the ground every time she shifted her position.

"Yes, ma'am. May I help you?" Sam asked, digging his hands into his pockets as he stood and walked over to the woman, smiling gently.

"Yes, uhm. I'm looking for a girl named Raven." That was all the young woman said.

Sam waited a moment, to see if she would say anything else about Raven, but she didn't. "What's her last name? Can you describe her to me?" he asked. He didn't know why he was asking these questions, but it felt necessary.

"Uhm… well you see… Raven… doesn't really have a last name. And I haven't seen her in a long while. But just the other week, I saw your poster about her. I realize that this is probably pretty old, since in the picture, she still looks like a child, and I'm sure she's grown up by now." The woman pulled out of her large purse a copy of the flyer that Sam and Mikaela had put up a long time ago. The ink had faded and was a bit smeared from years of rain and sunshine. Sam took it and looked closely at it.

"Yes, this is the flyer I put up nine years ago. If you found it just the other week, why are you just now coming to see her?"

"Well, it was a bit hard to read the address and phone number, you see."

Sam chuckled and agreed after closer inspection. "Well, yes. Raven, or Rev, is here. …So how do you know her?"

"Oh, I'm her step-sister, Liz Banksfield."

----

Raven was sitting in the living room, between Sam and Liz, her eyes pointed at the infant and was in a sort of daze. On one side, Sam was playing with the baby Liz had brought with her, who turned out to be her, Raven's, four month old niece, Lily. On her other side, Liz was chatting animatedly about how her life had been so far.

Evidently, after the house was knocked down and Raven was nowhere to be found, Chloe fell into a depression, for which she had to take lots of anti-depressants. Liz began to worry about her mother and was soon failing classes, barely managing to scrape a passing grade to go onto her next years in school, and began separating herself from friends. Soon after she turned twenty, she met a boy who took a great interest in her. At first he seemed nice, but after about six months of dating him, he turned on her, making her focus on him, instead of her sick mother, or school, making her wait up for him at his apartment while he was out partying with friends and fooling around with other girls behind her back, having her get fat, as Liz put it. Finally, after a full year, Liz had had enough of him and broke it off. Only after she ended it did she realize she was pregnant. It was a harsh nine months, what with having to tell her mother, and convincing the ex that it was his baby since she was the one being loyal. Nowadays, she was living with Chloe and Chloe's boyfriend, Max.

"Well now that I've found you again, you can come back and live with us once more!" Liz said, turning to Raven and smiling.

At the sound of this, Sam ceased playing with Lily, and merely stayed silent, to listen to what Raven would say.

Raven stayed quiet as well, her dazed expression still on her face. At last, she turned to Liz and said, "I'm sorry… but the Witwickys have adopted me now…"

Liz's smile drooped, as if the strings holding it in place were suddenly cut loose. "Oh," was all she said.

"I'm really sorry… but you can come visit anytime you like."

Here, the woman smiled again. "You bet I will. I'm kind of sad that you won't be living with us again, but what's fair is fair, right? Lily and I will visit as much as possible, and I'll even try to bring Mom. She'll be so happy to see you." Here, Liz looked at the clock hanging on the wall and gasped. She stood up and grabbed Lily's diaper bag and her purse. "I just realized that Lily has an appointment with her pediatrician in an hour."

Sam placed the child in her car seat and buckled her in. Liz gave Raven a big hug and shook hands with Sam, telling him it was nice to meet him. Then, with Raven's help and escort, Liz carried the baby and the bag out to the car.

----

Two days later, Mikaela returned wearing a French business suit and heels, and carrying many bags, most of which she had bought in Europe to bring home the gifts and what not. The first thing she did when she got off the plain was run to Sam and embrace and kiss him. Then she turned to Raven and gave her a big hug, telling her she missed the girl very much.

That next night, after dinner, which was cooked by Raven, the girl asked Bumblebee to call the other Autobots and tell them to come quickly. When the bots were gathered outside, Raven beckoned Sam and Mikaela out to the yard as well. Ironhide was the first of the Autobots to say something to her.

"Well, back again, are we?" he said, smirking.

Raven smiled slightly up at him and greeted the three. Afterward, she paused a moment, looked at everyone and said in a very serious voice:

"I have something important to tell all of you."

----

_A/N: Sorry it took so long to post this one. Kind of busy and all… And thanks for all of the reviews and support everyone._


	4. Just Another Day

**Transformers: For the Future- Chapter IV: Just Another Day**

An expected silence settled down on everyone's ears, thick as cotton wool. All eyes were on Raven who didn't continue on with her statement and merely stood there, her side to everyone, biting her lip and averting her eyes to stare at the well manicured concrete.

"Well?" Ratchett asked, impatiently after a few minutes.

Raven turned to look at the Autobots and stared thoughtfully at them. She had asked them here on an urgent call, and they came, instead of doing whatever else they had planned, which was probably important, or not. All the same, they arrived, and for this, Raven decided that she would tell them her secret after all. The girl licked her lips, cleared her throat and craned her head upward a bit so that she could see the electric blue of the bots' optics.

"W-Well…" she began, her voice hoarse with slight dread and nervousness. Sometimes, her feelings confused her. "As you know… I'm… not like normal people here… In fact I-I'm… not even a person at all… well… a human person anyway. I'm… I'm a… an alien, as you humans would call us," she said this to Sam and Mikaela.

All was quiet.

"I know that none of you are all that surprised about the whole 'an-alien-has-come-to-Earth' thing, considering…" she gestured towards the Autobots.

"Not about that, no, we are a bit surprised, but we kind of knew it all along. Except… we just didn't know we knew it," Mikaela said, blushing from embarrassment about how stupid her statement sounded. "But, can I ask why you're here…?"

This may have sounded rude, but Raven understood her curiosity. "That's… that's something I will tell you in good time…"

"Hold on. If you're not human, why do you appear human in my scans? You have the same organs and everything," Ratchett blurted out. Everyone looked at the girl.

Raven felt slightly violated that Ratchett would scan her without her knowing, but she said, after tearing her gaze from the medic, "Let me explain. You see, my original appearance is not at all different than what you see before you. When I visit a different planet, something inside of me will scan the language and appearance of the race inhabiting the globe and my body will morph to that look. I'm not exactly sure why my ears did not turn out as yours are… but my organs have. Which is why…" she looked at the Autobots again, "I appear human. My body will shape shift to fit its surroundings. But there is something slightly different that never changes. My inner ear structure, because of it, I am able to hear things that are far away or blocked by walls as clearly as if it were right in front of me. Also, my personality is not exactly like this… My behavior changes as well to not draw attention to myself—"

"So why do you heal so quickly?" Sam blurted out.

"…I will also explain that when the time comes, but please, let me finish." She waited until Sam, who had opened his mouth to say something more, but settled again to listen. "I came here to Earth twelve years ago, but not on purpose. My pod had crash landed after being pulled in by the planet's gravitational pull (Mikaela gasped, "I remember seeing a report about that on the news!"), and after the crash, I lost all of my memories. All I had were my instincts. For three years, I stayed under the care of Chloe Banksfield until one day I had wandered off on my own, only to come back to see her house destroyed. At first I didn't know anything of it, but now I do. It was a fight. Between an Autobot…" Raven's eyes traveled up to the bots now, "and a Decepticon… Soon afterward I was taken in for a few days, by you two. By then, my memories had revealed themselves, but remained still hidden in a cloud, exposing themselves only when triggered by certain sights, sounds or words. When I came into contact with Bumblebee's spark, some of the memory came out to full view. Up to this day, I can only remember to as far as a few years back when I was on my own planet, with my own people. I don't remember any names or faces. But I'm sure that if I had the right triggers, then they will come to me." Raven cleared her throat and grabbed her neck, rubbing it lightly. She wasn't used to speaking so much. "I'm done… Any questions?"

"Yes, I've got one." It was Bumblebee. "There's something you're hiding from us. Would you care to share it?"

Raven stared him straight in his optics, feeling a slight prickle of anxiety at the bottom of her stomach. That was not the only thing she had wanted to tell them. For a moment, she wanted to blurt out everything, and get it all off of her chest. "Yes, I am hiding something. But like I said, I will tell in good time. …Any more questions?" None. "Good night then." Raven bowed to them and returned to the house.

----

The next morning, Raven rose from the couch at five in the morning. Sam and Mikaela were still sound asleep, and the sky was still dark. The girl brushed and braided her hair tightly. Raven was wearing loose, black pajama pants and a dark blue wife beater when she pulled on her tennis shoes and stepped outside.

It was chilly and the dark green grass sparkled in the sinking moon's light with dew. Although it was still dim, the brightly coloured leaves could still be seen clearly. Autumn was just settling in. Bumblebee's bright paint job was also lucid. Raven eyed his headlights carefully, unsure if he was awake or just in short stasis. Whatever he was doing, he stayed quiet and did not speak to her as she walked towards her motorcycle, which was parked next to him.

For a while, she stood there, thinking about a place to go to watch the sun rise. Then she turned, looked at the house, and decided that she would watch the sunrise from the roof two stories up.

Raven walked passed Bumblebee, watching him from the corner of her eye, until she turned her back on him when she entered the house. From the door, she went upstairs and walked down the hall where a door led outside. It was the second story balcony, the same balcony that Sam had seen Bumblebee drive away by himself, thinking it was a car thief. But of course, Raven didn't know this, and if she did, she probably wouldn't have thought it important to know. She sat on the railing of the upstairs veranda and grabbed onto the edges of the roof, her fingers running against the tiles with a rough friction between. The girl pulled herself up and steadily stood. She took a moment to keep her balance and then walked along, farther away from the edge with her arms outstretched on either side of her.

Now on the other side of the roof, she sat herself down and faced toward the east which was the way Raven had walked to get to this side of the house in the first place. A few minutes of silence and then the girl clapped her hands together, creating a loud, crisp sound that echoed down the street. Her ears twitched and perked upwards as the sound waves bounced back towards her. The thought of having a quiet morning, when everything was fresh and crisp, to herself made her smile. The girl breathed in the cold air, stinging and untainted by fuel and smoke and human perspiration.

After ten minutes of waiting in the dark, Raven yawned. Perhaps she should have slept in a few more minutes. Somewhere below her, she heard Bumblebee transforming, and suddenly his face blocked her view of the sky. He looked down at her, his blue optics shining brightly, and his huge chest sparkling dully in the fading starlight. For a moment, at her angle, it looked like the robot had a grim expression, but he was just merely staring down at her.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked, his metallic voice echoing dully.

"Waiting for sunrise," she answered simply, still sitting with her knees clasped tightly to her chest by her arms for warmth. It was rather dumb of her not to bring a jacket, but then again, she didn't think it would be _this_ cold, and she also thought that she wouldn't be sitting out here for so long, that the sun would rise and bathe her in its warm rays.

"Hm," was Bumblebee's reply.

He stood there a moment, staring down at her. Then suddenly, he put out a hand for her to climb on. She stared at it confused, but then he told her to get on, and hesitantly, she did. He put her down on the ground, and then transformed back to his Camaro form. He opened the driver door for her.

"What are you doing?" she asked, tilting her head to one side, giving a look of innocent curiosity.

"You want a better view of the sunrise, don't you?" he asked.

Raven smiled and got in. He closed the door behind her and started his engine. Sensing her cold skin on his seat, he turned on the heat as well as the seat warmer. Then he pulled the seatbelt across her and said in a voice that indicated a smirk: "Safety first."

The girl smirked back and huddled in the warmth as Bumblebee pulled out of the driveway. After a moment of silent driving, Raven, who was staring out of the window said, "So where are you taking me anyway?"

Bumblebee took a moment to answer. "To a cliff side; I took Sam and Mikaela there once, when they first started talking, and when Sam had just "bought" me. …When you told me you wanted to see the sun rise, this place came to me in an instant. I think you'll like it."

Raven didn't reply and yet another few minutes passed in silence, so Bumblebee, who couldn't stand it anymore, turned on his radio with a hushed click and played a song quietly as he drove to the cliff. It was a classical channel. To him, Raven seemed tense, and he remembered that Mikaela had told him that classical music could calm even the tensest person to a subtle tranquil.

Just as the violin was starting a solo, Bumblebee pulled up to the cliff and turned off the engine. Raven, who was in her own world now, clutching herself only lightly, since warmth was provided to her and the drive was smooth as well as the music, blinked and looked up.

For a moment, she sat in the warmth of the car and then opened the door just a crack at first, and then all the way. The cold air infiltrated the warm interior and engulfed the girl quickly, assaulting her with sharp breezes and giving her goose bumps. She shivered before getting out and shutting the door.

As Bumblebee transformed behind her, Raven sat at the edge of the cliff, letting her feet dangle and swing carelessly. The sun was coming up now, painting the sky lovely shades of red, pink, orange…

By the time Raven could no longer feel her fingers, the atmosphere was a soft pink with a touch of light purple, elegant red and lines of bright orange. The sun itself was pale on the canvas of colour and three-fourths in the sky already. Behind her, Bumblebee was quiet.

Thirty minutes had passed by now, and all he did was stand there and watch the peculiar alien girl, instead of enjoying the sunrise. He couldn't really put his finger on it, but there was something about her, something important that he had to know…

When he was quite sure that the girl must have frozen to the spot, he transformed back and honked at her twice. She climbed into the passenger seat, pulling the seatbelt across her body, blowing into her hands and smiling gently, staring at his wheel.

"Thank you for taking me," was all she said before she rested her head against the window and stared ahead with heavy eyes.

Bumblebee responded by starting the engine and the radio, letting the soft classical music fill the cabin. Only after a few minutes and the girl was asleep. She must have gotten up early to see this sunrise. For the rest of the ride, he was left alone to his thoughts, except for the humans who got up early to go to work. It must've only been six o'clock or something close to it; luckily for him, he had conjured up his hologram.

----

Around eleven o'clock in the morning, Mikaela met Liz and Lily and the two spent the day at the house, but by two-thirty, Milo, Sam's old friend and a few other people were invited and the small get together soon became an all out party.

Raven only stayed for a short while and then stepped outside. The noise was giving her a headache. Bumblebee, in his Camaro form, was there to keep her company, but they seldom talked because of the many passersby who were enjoying the chilly autumn day.

After only a short time, Mikaela came out, apologizing for her disturbances and asked Raven to stop by the store to pick up a few party things. Raven responded with a nod and smile. Bumblebee immediately opened his driver side door for her and she hopped in.

Down at the convenience mart, while Raven was looking for soda, she lifted her head at the feeling of being watched, and indeed she was; at the far end of the isle, stood a lone man. He was young, almost as young as her probably. He was dressed in the latest style of street clothes, with his ripped dark blue jeans, studded belt, sleeveless hoodie, short sleeved shirt underneath, converse shoes, and wrist bands. He had dark, messy hair that was cut short in the back with long bangs that covered a part of his face. As he stood there, staring at Raven, who felt awkward and slightly irritated at his watching her, he seemed to be as beautiful as an angel. When he noticed that had looked up at him, he flashed her an angelic smile, one which Raven returned with an irritated frown. She went back to looking for Mikaela's favourite soda.

The man started to walk down the isle toward Raven, and suddenly she realized how empty and quiet the store seemed. Just as the stranger came in mere feet of her, Raven selected a flavor of soda and walked away from him.

But it seemed that her ignoring him didn't seem to drive the man away. Even as she stood in line at the cashier, he stood on the side and watched her, a smile dancing on his lips. All the while, Raven became more and more annoyed. Why didn't he just leave her alone and find another girl to harass? She didn't seem to find anything particularly special about the way she herself looked or was dressed. Simple dark blue jeans, a black elbow shirt with transparent sleeves and small panda designs on the torso, black converse and her usual hairstyle of a braid.

As Raven was waiting for her change, she put on her sunglasses and glanced at the stranger. He smiled his angelic smile again and waved at her. She furrowed her brows at this walked off as soon as she had all of her items.

In the parking lot, Bumblebee sensed Raven's aggravation, mostly because she practically threw everything into his trunk and almost slammed his doors. Not to mention her forehead was creased with a bothered air.

"What's the matter? Something happen inside or what?" Bumblebee asked as he started the engine.

"Yeah, but it's nothing. Some guy just kept following me around."

"Oh. So what?"

"I dunno. He just… I just didn't like it okay? Let's go. We've been gone along time." Bumblebee pulled out of the lot and drove home, not saying another word.

----

Back at the house, the party was still going on and the guests simply took the bags from Raven's hands when she walked through the doors. Feeling that she wasn't needed any longer, she left and went to join Bumblebee in the driveway once again. By now, she had practically forgotten about her irritation and just went to the fact that she would never see that man again.

Now that it was late afternoon, Raven and Bumblebee were free to talk without worry of any passersby because everyone was at home getting ready for dinner. The girl sat on Bumblebee's hood in a butterfly stretch position, her gaze pointed towards the sky and her ears twitching every so often as the Autobot talked.

Bumblebee quieted down as he heard a motorcycle driving towards them. Raven looked away from the sky to the road as the cyclist neared, interested in what kind of bike the person rode.

Raven and Bumblebee expected the bike to just zoom by, as so many had on other occasions, but this one didn't. It slowed down in front of the driveway and the driver got off. Like Raven had earlier done, the rider approached without removing any of their gear.

Raven climbed off of Bumblebee's hood and walked towards the person, ready for anything suspicious or dangerous.

"Can I help you?" she asked, staring at her own reflection in the stranger's helmet when they met halfway. Here, the person unclipped and removed their helmet. Immediately, Raven's eyes widened and suspicion was scribbled all over her features in bright red ink. She backed away a good distance from the man and instinctively assumed a defensive position just in case he wanted to abduct her or something. Raven growled at the stranger from the store deep in her throat.

"As a matter of fact, you can help me." The man's voice was velvety, soft and elegant. It suited his handsome features well. "I'm looking for a girl named Raven. She had long black hair, usually braided, about your height, pale skin, lovely reddish eyes…"

Raven practically ran at the speed that she backed away from the man. Her eyes grew hostile, and she was tempted to break off a piece of the gutter line that was right next to her foot to use as a weapon.

"Who's asking?" she said none too kindly.

The man smiled again, his saintly smile, and walked slowly towards Raven, his hand outstretched as if he were trying to lure a small, scared animal from hiding.

"Vincent's the name." 

"Nice to meet you Vincent. Care to give me some space?" Raven responded huskily with angry suspicion.

Vincent stopped moving at this and said nothing more, but continued to smile.

There was a moment's silence before the girl spoke up.

"Why were you following me around the store? And why are you here now? How did you find me and how do you know my name? You some sort of stalker? Get out of here now! Before I do something that we both will regret!"

Vincent threw his head back and laughed out loud a hearty laugh. "I was trying to talk to you, but you left, so I decided to follow you, staying as close as I could to you without you noticing. No, I'm not any kind of a stalker, although you might think otherwise right now, you wouldn't do anything that _you_ would regret. That's not like you. And as for how I know your name… Well. I've known you all my life that's how."

Raven dropped her fists and her eyes widened. "What?"


	5. Those Odd, Awkward Feelings

**Transformers: For the Future- Chapter V: Those Odd, Awkward Feelings**

A week had passed in the event that Vincent told her he knew her his whole life, a speech that earned a very stern, very loud telling off from the girl herself, something she had never done. During every day that had passed since then, Vincent had tried to get a hold of Raven, and she continued to dodge him. It seemed that she could not go anywhere, not even to the back or front yard of the house, without seeing his angelic face, or sheepish smile.

Sam and Mikaela didn't seem to understand what her situation was with Vincent. They said that he had a crush on her and that he just wanted to talk. Bumblebee also didn't seem to agree with Raven. He merely just said when she asked his opinion that maybe if she talked to him, he would help reveal the blanks in her memory although he also said that if she did not want to talk or be near him, he would make sure to keep an eye out for him.

One day, when Raven was out taking a ride on her motorcycle, for a little thinking time to herself, she stopped at a gas station to fill up. When coming out of the little shop after paying she looked up and saw that Vincent had parked next to her bike, looking around with his arms crossed and his helmet on. When he saw her, he climbed off his own bike and walked towards her. She merely stood her ground and glared at him, willing herself not to throw her helmet at him as hard as she could.

"Hi!" he said, cheerfully and pulling off his helmet to reveal his angel-handsome face and smile.

"What. Do you want," Raven snarled through gritted teeth, her scarlet eyes shining.

"Just wanted to talk," he said casually, looking down at her and ignoring her glares.

"Look, I don't have time—"

"You used to always have time for me."

"You know," she said, turning her back on him, clipping the strap of her helmet under her chin and pulling the shaded glass down so that he could not see her face, "if I used to know you, then I don't now. Usually it's sight, or voice or short 'conversations,' if you'd like to call them that, that trigger my memories," she turned to face him, "so far, I've seen you, heard you, and talked to you and nothing's come up. I don't know why that is, but maybe, and I'm sorry if I sound rude, but maybe I don't want to remember you. It could be perhaps you did something horrible to me, or whatever, but I can't remember you, so please, please, stop wasting my time and yours and just move on with your life."

Vincent looked sadly at the girl, his frown making him more handsome. "But you are my life."

And although Vincent could not see her blush, Raven scoffed to cover it up. She readjusted her gloves and was about to hop on her bike when Vincent came up and hugged her from behind. Immediately, she pushed him away and yelled "What is with you!"

"I—"

"No, I don't want to hear it! Just leave me alone before I call the cops on you!"

"No, Raven I—" But before he could say anymore, Raven zoomed off, her bright red tail lights streaking behind her in the setting sun. But Vincent wouldn't give up and hopped on his own bike…

When Raven pulled into the driveway five minutes later, Bumblebee was sitting there leaning back on his arms, his legs spread wide and staring up at the newly darkened sky. However, he looked away to watch the girl get off her bike and, what seemed to him, angrily take off her helmet and slam it on the seat of the bike. He was about to open his mouth and ask her what was the matter, when a second bike pulled up and Vincent, who was in the middle of removing his helmet, got off his motorcycle and laid it down hastily near Bumblebee's foot while the wheels were still spinning. He didn't seem to notice Bumblebee, so he took this chance and transformed.

"Raven, wait! Please!"

"Listen! Just. Listen," Raven replied, keeping her distance from Vincent. "Please just leave me alone, okay? I don't want to turn you into the cops or any—" She stopped dead in the middle of her sentence and slowly lifted her hand to her face, to wipe away a single tear that had glided down her cheek. She looked at the wet spot on her finger, shocked.

Vincent took this chance to run towards her and held her in an embrace. He held her tight. Behind the two, Bumblebee was watching. He felt a small twinge of an odd emotion in his spark when the man hugged her. But Raven didn't seem to notice. Her hand dropped to her side after a moment, her expression lost, her eyes glazed as though she really was going to cry. But then, she raised her own arms and returned Vincent's embrace and suddenly dropped to her knees, her face now buried in his shoulder.

Vincent pulled away gently to look at her in the face. Her head was bent and her hands were in her lap, faced up. She was evidently staring at her palms as though she could not believe that she was in her own body. And then they began to talk in hushed tones. Bumblebee, deciding to be a good friend to Raven, chose not to listen.

"You always used to say that…" murmured Raven, referring to his plea.

"That was because you were always running away from me," Vincent replied, smiling gently.

"And you'd always come after me and it would always end up with you hugging me… and…" Raven looked up at Vincent, and punched him in the chest so hard that he staggered backward.

Vincent looked at Raven, slightly shocked, and then grinned. He started to chuckle and rubbed the spot where the girl had punched him. "And you always used to do that."

"Not always."

"Yeah, but whenever we were on a foreign planet you did."

"…Why did you wait so long to do that?"

"Well if you recall, I tried earlier today, but you shoved me away." Vincent smirked. "The important thing is now you've got all of your memories back, right?"

Raven nodded. After a moment's silence, Vincent went and stood next to Raven, following her gaze which lingered on the yellow Camaro.

"When will you tell them?"

"…Soon I suppose…"

"How soon?"

"…"

----

Over the next few days, Vincent came over a lot, and spent many hours of time with Raven, something that Bumblebee couldn't help but notice was cutting into a lot of time that she usually spent with him.

When Optimus and the others came on their weekly check up on Raven, to see whether or not she could remember anything else, she had been gone with Vincent for an hour already, something that Bumblebee reported, with a more moody tone than he had intended, when Optimus asked where she had gone.

"Is something wrong, Bumblebee?" Optimus asked after observing his comrade for a moment.

Bumblebee shook his head and looked away.

"I thought she did not like that boy?" Ratchet asked, coming towards them.

"She did not, but now… Optimus, I think she's remembered something else now. Thanks to that… boy."

Ratchet raised his eyebrows at Bumblebee's tone, but Optimus seemed to have ignored it.

"How long will it take her to get back?" he asked.

"I'm not sure."

"Do you know where she went?"

"No."

"…Then I suppose we shall wait here for her."

Night had just barely fallen when Raven returned. "Oh, hi Optimus, Ratchet, Ironhide…" She said this rather awkwardly because they were all staring at her intently, something they had not done since they met her as a little girl.

They were all anxiously grim faced, all except Bumblebee, who had a rather irritated look that seemed to darken a little when he heard a motorcycle pull up. Vincent looked up at him through the glass of his helmet and nobody said anything or moved. Finally, Vincent took off his helmet and smiled at the Autobots.

"Hi. I'm Vincent. Raven's told me great things about you guys."

All optics turned on Raven who returned the gaze calmly and said, "I'll… explain everything. Later."

At this moment, Mikaela and Sam came out and started to greet Vincent enthusiastically, as they always did. They darted odd looks at Raven, indicating their concern with Vincent seeing the bots. When the three were gone, there was a tense silence between the Autobots and the alien.

"It's not what you think. I'm not going around blabbing about you guys," Raven said finally looking each of the bots square in the optics.

"We did not say anything of the kind," Optimus responded.

"Have you guys come for the weekly check up?"

Optimus nodded.

"Well, I've regained all of my memories and such. But… if it would be allowed, could you wait a little longer for the full story?"

The Autobots exchanged unsure glances and Optimus, after making sure his team agreed with him, nodded.

The Autobots, excluding Bumblebee transformed and before speeding off, Optimus drove up to Raven and said to her, "You know how to contact us if you need anything." Raven nodded. After this, the semi, Hummer and GMC truck sped off.

Bumblebee lay down on his back with his hands behind his head and gazed up quietly at the stars now popping up in the dark sky. Raven looked at him for a moment, then walked over to him, and sat down next to his head, also looking up, her eyes glittering in the sparse light.

"Something wrong?" she asked quietly.

"No," he responded with equal volume.

"I think I know what's bothering you."

Bumblebee turned his head slightly to look at her. "Oh really? What's that?"

Raven also turned to look at him. "…Well, I'm not sure I should say it, because you seem to be in doubt with how you're feeling about it."

Bumblebee turned his gaze back up above him and changed the subject. "I am just wondering, but what is going on with you and that boy? You do not have to answer if you don't want to." He added that last part almost too quickly.

Raven chuckled. "In all honesty, nothing. He seems to like me like he always has, and as always, it gives me those odd, awkward feelings that you get when you don't feel the same way as that person feels about you."

"Oh..? You do not like him the way he likes you?"

"No, not really."

"Oh, okay." Bumblebee seemed to be a bit cheerier.

"…"

"…"

Mikaela poked her head out of the back door and called, "Raven, come and eat!"

Raven got up and turned to Bumblebee who looked back at her at the same time. She smiled, in an amused kind of way as she looked into his optics and put her hand on his shoulder. "If there's anything you need to tell me… _anything_… at all. Just tell me, okay?"

"…Okay," Bumblebee said finally after a moment or two, and rather weakly. He turned to his side to watch Raven walk away and disappear behind the walls of the house and after she disappeared, he turned on his back and smirked to himself.


	6. Not So Secret

Transformers: For the Future-Chapter VI:

**Transformers: For the Future-Chapter VI: Not So Secret**

As winter neared, the weather became gray and white. Raven became slightly worried about Bumblebee sitting out in the cold but he merely chuckled wisely at her and told her that he would stay with the others in the base.

During the month of December, when the snow was falling the heaviest out of the whole year, Bumblebee or Ironhide would often drop by to help Mikaela, Sam and Raven go about the town. Ironhide usually took Raven to her new volunteer job at the mall. At first, when he saw her dressed in a long green shirt that went down to her knees like a dress, tied at the waist with a red rope belt accompanied by red and white stockings and green shoes with matching hat, he chuckled, causing the alien to flush angrily. Mikaela had volunteered her at the "Meet Santa Claus" center, and now she had no choice but to go.

One night when Raven's shift was over, she walked outside to see if Ironhide was there to pick her up yet. No sign of him so far. Before going in, Raven looked up into the dark sky, which was a light onyx colour and snow was falling heavily, but serenely, adding more inches of white fluffiness onto the already white ground.

Raven shivered and turned to go back into the building, but a honk caused her to turn. When she did, she saw Bumblebee pulling up. She smiled and walked over to him, wrapping her jacket and scarf tighter around herself. After she shut the door and buckled the seatbelt, she noticed a tiny holiday forest green reef with a little red bow hanging from the rearview mirror. She allowed a small laugh to escape.

"What is so funny?" Bumblebee asked as he pulled slowly out of the parking lot.

"Nothing really…" Raven turned to look out the window. Snowflakes were passing by so quickly now, along with long streaks of red and off-white lights of other cars on the highway.

There was a long silence that was broken when Bumblebee turn on his radio, forgetting that he had taken Sam somewhere earlier and the man had turn up the volume to full blast on a rock station. The sudden noise and loudness made Raven jump and look around.

"Sorry, sorry…" Bumblebee apologized hastily, turning down the volume to a minimum and changing the station to Raven's favourite classical channel. After that, there was silence again. Bumblebee was getting nervously awkward and decided to start a conversation.

"Soo… what are you, Sam and Mikaela going to do tomorrow..?" he asked.

"For Christmas? I don't really know…"

Silence.

"I got something for you," Raven said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, well, it's for everyone really, but you count as part of everyone."

"Heh." The little fire that had flared up inside of Bumblebee when he heard that she got him a gift went out a little in slight defeat and it frustrated him that he didn't know why he was feeling this way.

When he pulled into the driveway, the little snowstorm had gotten worse and was practically a blizzard. He watched as Raven opened his driver door, her jacket wrapped tightly around her body and her scarf around her ears and the bottom half of her face. She closed his door and walked towards the house, fighting against the harsh wind, only to be knocked down by a storm of snow. She got up and climbed back into his cabin, rubbing her hands together.

"It's too harsh to go outside right now… Do you mind if I stay with you for a little while? I'll be out of your hair as soon as the storm calms," Raven asked, staring at the wheel.

"You say that as if you are a burden to me, and you are not. You are welcome to stay as long as you like, and honestly, I enjoy your company, so let's hope this storm lasts all night."

Raven chuckled. "You're too kind."

An hour passed in painful silence for Bumblebee. He couldn't deny the fact that he was staring at Raven the whole time. Now he understood. He understood why he enjoyed her company so much, and why he went out of his way to spend time with her, and why he got angry every time he saw her with _him_.

She was smart, gentle, mysterious, natural, _beautiful_, and truly, truly different than any being he had ever met. And now he knew the answer to those confusing feelings. He, as the humans say, 'liked' her.

Bumblebee liked Raven. A Cybertronian, an alien; a beautiful alien, and a foolish Cybertronian. What was he thinking? He was getting riled up for nothing; she would not return his feelings. She would—

Raven sighed. She put a warm hand on the glass of the driver side window and took it off after a few seconds, leaving behind a misted handprint. For a moment, she sat staring at it as it shrunk in on itself, and then she heard the mechanical whirring that was so familiar; Bumblebee was doing something.

A second later, Raven felt a hand on her shoulder. She instinctively turned around. A young man probably around her age sat in the passenger seat, his hand on her. He had light gold, blond hair with bangs that came down a little past his shocking electric blue eyes (that seemed to literally glow in the semi-darkness) in a windswept kind of look, and continued down the back of his head to the bottom of his neck in layers. There were two black coloured tresses that came down to his jaw joint on each side of his head, giving a kind of fanged look, accompanied by a lock of light gold coming down between his orbs and curling up a little at the bridge of his straight nose where it ended. His mouth, accompanied by a strong jaw, was curvy with full lips.

The man wore a tight black, short sleeved shirt that hugged the base of his neck, tight stomach, broad shoulders and chest, as well as his slightly pumped arms. Over that, he wore a lemon coloured, flipped collar vest with a set of black stripes, one thin, one thick, on each side of the unzipped, black zipper. On the chest, right on the spot above the heart, was the red Autobot insignia. He wore black cargo pants with a black belt and black and yellow Converse shoes. On his arms he wore two black and yellow horizontal striped armbands, one on his right forearm, the other, on his left upper arm, the band dipping to the contours of his muscles.

The second Raven turned around, she almost screamed; she held it down. Unfortunately, she couldn't stop herself from hitting her head on the window behind her, or jumping at the sight of the man. Somehow, she had hit the wheel, and a loud, quick honk resounded throughout the air. Raven glanced at the wheel for a split second before turning back to the man. He was unbelievably gorgeous, that was something the girl couldn't help but admit to herself. His eyes were what captivated her most, not only because of the colour, but because of the mood the shape of them brought out. They seemed, gentle but mischievous at the same time.

He laughed a carefree laugh and asked, "Are you okay?" It was Bumblebee's voice that made Raven sure of herself. He definitely wasn't some strange guy who had managed to sneak into the cabin of the car.

"You shouldn't do that to me." Raven put a hand on her heart.

Bumblebee smiled in an apologetic way that made him look even cuter. "I apologize. You did not hurt yourself did you?"

Raven rubbed the back of her head and observed the 'man'. He was Bumblebee, for sure, but she didn't know he had a form like this. "How are you… what is… Are you…" For once, the girl didn't know what to say.

Bumblebee grinned. "This is a holographic form."

"But you're not… phasing in and out."

"No, I am not. That's good; it means that it's working properly. During the years, Ratchett became bored and decided to do some work with his hologenerator, since it became faulty over the years from not being used. Eventually, he fixed it, and even made it better, and he upgraded every one of ours as well. I'm solid, you can touch me." Bumblebee grinned and held out a hand.

Raven looked at Bumblebee for a moment, unsure, and then at his hand. She raised her corresponding hand and reached over, letting it hover over his. Bumblebee noticed that her nails were long, making her hand look even more delicate than before. Slowly, she put hers down on his.

He was cold, probably because the exterior of his actual body was cold, but it warmed to her touch. Her eyes raised and she realized that Bumblebee was looking at her in an odd way. His smile was soft and dream like, his blue optics matching the mood, his face flushed.

At that moment, Bumblebee realized that Raven had caught him staring and his faced turned pinker very quickly, his alarm sounding with his reaction. His headlights blinked, flashing on and off, and his horn honked in a fast paced, metronome fashion. Raven once again jumped, her hand lifting off of Bumblebee's, and her knee slamming into the wheel.

The alarm went off as quickly as it turned on. "Sorry," Bumblebee exclaimed.

"Don't worry about it." Raven looked away from the Autobot and began rubbing her injured joint.

"What's wrong?" Bumblebee inquired, his voice sounding genuinely worried. He half regretted half praised himself for asking that, because when he did, Raven turned on a light, lifted her skirt and pulled down her stocking, revealing a pale, delicate leg with a big, pink mark on the knee. It was a little more inward, making Bumblebee lean in a little more so that he could see clearly. It was definitely going to be a bruise.

"Sorry…" Bumblebee murmured again, sitting back now, his eyes still lingering on Raven's leg.

The girl pulled up her stocking, and pulled down her dress before sitting back too. "It's okay. You don't need to keep saying that."

"I feel I need to. I keep scaring you, and now you are injured."

"It's nothing, really."

"But you still got hurt, no matter if it is something or nothing, and I am at fault."

Bumblebee was looking down now. Raven made him look up at her, her hand under his chin. "Listen, it's nothing, okay? So don't worry about it, please. I'm a big girl; I can get banged up a little and not cry about it."

The Autobot holograph stared at Raven for a long time. "Okay."

After that, they spent a long time, talking and laughing. On the side, Bumblebee was searching the internet for romantic things to do, the information scrolling quickly in his eyes in tiny font that could only be seen if one looked close enough, which Raven did. At one point, not long after starting his search, Bumblebee found a link via Google that was entitled 'Christmas Romances'. He entered the site and quickly read it. It was mostly useless, except for one excerpt about a berry called mistletoe. Lucky for him, that reef that Mikaela had put on his rear view mirror was made of mistletoe. It had to be; the leaves looked like those in the picture that came with the little paragraph, and there were white berries in it too.

A comfortable silence fell between the two after they had laughed a little at something that Sam had once done. They looked at each other, and smiled. It was now or never. As Bumblebee locked eyes with Raven, his hand went up and plucked a mistletoe from the reef, berries, leaves and all. Her scarlet eyes followed his hand, something he was not expecting.

The Autobot hologram held the thing above his head and as Raven's eyes settled on his again, he smiled sheepishly at her. She chuckled and looked down, slightly embarrassed, slightly flattered. Then, she looked up at him, and nodded, making something inside the bot to jump and flip, or something of the sort.

She obviously knew the tradition to the mistletoe, because she leaned in towards him, her eyes sliding shut slowly. Bumblebee, eager and forgetting about the mistletoe, dropped it and leaned in too. As they drew closer, his hand came up and was placed on her cheek. She leaned into his touch, and he leaned the other way, towards her hand which had been placed on him almost at the same time.

They were so close now, to the point where they could feel and each other's breath on their lips. His was cold; hers was warm, and even smelled of cinnamon. So close, their hands were in each other's hair.

Raven's eyes were closed, but she could still see it through her eyelids. The storm had apparently broken, and the sun was rising just beyond the horizon, casting pale light on everything. The snow glittered, and the Camaro glistened. She pulled away when the beams flashed a red glare under her eyelids, leaving Bumblebee expectant and empty. The minute she pulled away, he opened his eyes and looked at her, his hand slightly outstretched for her for a second before dropping.

"It's morning…" Raven stated, staring at the sunrise. Bumblebee sat up and looked towards the east, silently cursing the sun for ruining his chance.

"Yeah…" he said.

"Merry Christmas."

He looked up at her; she was smiling at him, her scarlet eyes sparkling a very light blue in the sun. Her eyes always seemed to amaze him somehow. "Merry Christmas."

They stared at each other for a long moment, and then the girl smiled understandingly at the irritated look in his eyes. "I'm going to go in now… Thank you for letting me stay with you."

"Thank you for spending time with me."

Her eyes twinkled again, and then she turned, opened the door and left. He knew what that smile she gave him meant. His secret crush on her, the one he did not realized existed until only a few hours ago, was not so secret anymore.


	7. The Secret That She Told

Transformers: For the Future-Chapter VII: The Secret That She Told

**Transformers: For the Future-Chapter VII: The Secret That She Told**

That morning when the sun broke the horizon, Vincent pulled up slowly (because of icy roads) to the house, bearing presents for everyone and not long after that, Sam had asked Bumblebee to call the others. When they arrived, the man had them park in the back drive way and then summon their holographic forms. When asked why, he simply stated with a smile, "To celebrate Christmas with us." They all agreed, Ironhide a little more reluctant than anything else.

For two hours, Sam, Mikaela and Raven, with Vincent to boot, had gone about the house with their usual business, stopping or slowing down to stare at the very human, very solid forms of the Autobots.

Ironhide was tall and buff, like a club bouncer, and a little tan too. His dark hair was messy, and came down along the side of his head in fading sideburns, his bangs flat in the air, and flared out, as if he had pushed something against it. His eyes matched the rest of the Autobots' eyes, bright electric blue and glowing, his eyebrows dark and thick, but shaped. His chin and jaw joints were littered with whiskers that accented his angular face. However, no matter how dark his hair, and no matter how many whiskers he had, they couldn't hide the piercings he had decorated his holographic face with. There was a single silver stud under his lips, five small, silver rings on the shell of his left ear, accompanied by a matching stud on his lobe, three rings on his right shell to reflect.

However, the first thing that everybody noticed was the outfit Ironhide had chosen for himself. He wore a dark blue blazer, and dark blue jeans, but no shirt, leaving his tight abs and chest showing.

Raven was the first to notice this and when she did, she dropped the stack of books about European countries that made a loud smacking sound, her mouth hanging open. Mikaela, Sam and Vincent walked into the room and their jaws dropped too.

"Ironhide…?" Mikaela asked, blushing.

"Yes?" he responded, looking up from inspecting himself.

"Why are you…" she gulped. "What's with the… I…" Speechless.

"What?"

"How come you're not wearing a shirt…?" Sam finished for his wife, still recovering from shock.

"Hmph. Clothes are restricting, I don't know how you humans deal with it, but be glad that I have something on at all."

"Yes, but…" Vincent started, but Sam cut in.

"If you don't put a shirt on, Mikaela might jump on you." All eyes turned to Mikaela, who was still focused on Ironhide's body, her face flushed, her jaw still hanging open, and a little bit of drool forming. Ironhide immediately closed his blazer.

After a while, when Raven came back to check on Ironhide, he asked her, opening his now black blazer, "How's this?" He was wearing a dark blue waif beater underneath.

"That's good. But you still might want to watch out for Mikaela."

Ratchet suddenly appeared. He had sandy blond hair that was slicked back, a few long strands falling forward over his forehead. His skin was creamy and was decorated with light freckles on his cheeks. He wore rimless rectangular glasses that rested half way down the bridge of his straight nose. His eyes were half closed a lot of the time, almost as if he was bored, or tired, but it made him look even more intelligent.

He wore a bright yellow, loose, long sleeved shirt. It was decorated with a red collar, a thick red line extended from top to bottom in the very middle of the torso, and on the left sleeve, a red cross of sorts extended from the collar as well, extending across the shoulder and down the arm, crossing in the middle with a matching strip, going horizontal. His jeans were simple, blue and faded.

When Raven looked at him, he simply asked how long they would need to keep up their holographic forms. The girl merely shrugged. The medic took a seat and then said no more. After a while, Raven questioned the whereabouts of Optimus, and at that time, almost as if on cue, the leader showed up.

Optimus looked the oldest compared to the others. It wasn't like he looked old, no, far from it. There was a suave look about him that made him look older. The kind of look that made younger girls crave older men. He had a pale complexion and raven, mid-back length hair that was clipped back in a way that left it to flow. He had serious eyes, elegantly dark eyebrows, a straight nose, full lips and a strong jaw. He was tall, probably over six feet, with broad shoulders and chest, and of course, he held his head high, neck elongated.

He wore a dark blue suit with matching tie and a red scarf. That was it. His large hands were dug deep into his pants pockets and as he stood there, staring at Raven, a small smile on his lips, she found herself blushing.

"Well?" He held his arms open, and spun around. "Is this alright?"

Raven looked away. "Y-Yeah, it looks good." She turned and walked out of the room, bumping into Mikaela at the door frame.

"Oh good, Raven, Liz just called and they said they're going to be here in two hours. Please go shower and get dressed. Wear something nice."

"W-What? Why?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you? We're having a little Christmas party."

A little exasperated, Raven marched herself upstairs and showered. When she came out, she dressed in her pajama pants and a matching waif beater, then, while toweling her hair dry, she strolled downstairs, looking for Mikaela. She knocked on the woman's bedroom door, getting a muffled, "Just a minute!" So, while she waited, Raven went into the kitchen, whipping up some hot green tea to wake herself up.

The girl took her cup into the living room, only to find all the chairs filled up by Optimus and Bumblebee sandwiching Vincent on the couch, and Ratchet and Ironhide in separate armchairs.

"Eh…" All eyes suddenly turned on her, so quickly that it was kind of frightening.

"What's up?" Vincent asked. She told them that she had just come in to sit down. "Well, here, take my seat." He started to get up but Raven waved his gesture away.

"No, I should go and see if Mikaela is…" She stared at them all again, letting her sentence die, and then she turned, walked out of the room, and went to see if the woman was done with whatever she was done with.

She was. Raven told Mikaela that she didn't have anything nice to wear, and they ended up spending the next half hour examining outfits. In the end, the girl went back to her room, telling the older woman that she would improvise.

With nothing nice to wear, Raven raided her closet full of casual clothes. She pulled on a pair of dark blue jeans, a snug, black, half-sleeved hoodie, and some black Converse shoes. Afterwards, she quickly brushed through her now hip length hair and put it up in a clip, leaving some locks in the front to hang loose. Before leaving her room, she looked at her hands, which looked rather empty. She pulled on a few plain bracelets and tight, black, fingerless gloves.

When Raven descended the stairs, she discovered that there were already people arriving. She went to greet them, but Mikaela, in a red, satin, salsa-dancing-like-dress, rushed her, telling her that her outfit wasn't festive enough and that she should at least pull on the red and white stockings that came with her elf costume. So upstairs, Raven went to pull on a black Catholic-schoolgirl-styled skirt, her stockings with matching red and white striped scarf, and change her Converse out for her knee height, black combat boots.

Once again, Raven went downstairs. This time, no one bothered to lecture about how her clothes weren't festive enough. Sighing, Raven strolled into the full living room, glancing at the people who had showed up, watching them converse and whatnot. When she made to take a seat (not paying the slightest bit of attention of where she was sitting), she jumped up, pulling her skirt down on instinct. The girl looked back and found that she had tried to sit on Optimus' lap. She blushed and then went to the front of the house, staring out the window, and trying to ignore what had just taken place.

Not long after, Liz, Lilly, Chloe and her boyfriend Max pulled up at the house, all of them sporting festive holiday sweaters. They all greeted Raven warmly, except Max, who merely shook the girl's hand, having only met her that day. While Chloe and Max went about the house, making new friends, and showing off their grandchild, Liz pulled Raven around, chattering.

She stopped when she entered the living room, her eyes pointed at the five men still seated in the chairs.

"Who are they?" Liz asked.

"Hm? Oh they're just some friends."

"Well you gotta introduce me! They're hot!"

Raven made a kind of face before Liz pulled her forward towards the men. All of them watched as the women neared. Raven gave them a small wave and then attempted to talk, but could hardly be heard over the music that was resounding from the stereo not far behind her. Liz gestured everyone outside into the backyard.

It was snowing, and Raven couldn't help but clutch herself for warmth. In the corners of her eyes, she saw Bumblebee and Vincent glance at her.

"Ahem," Raven cleared her throat. "Liz, this is uh…" She stared at Optimus for a second, thinking. "Oliver."

The two greeted each other from across the circle. To the right of Optimus was Ratchet, who Raven had called Rafael. Next was Bumblebee, who was dubbed Ben. Then followed Raven herself in the circle, and Liz, and on the other side of her was Vincent, and finally, next to Optimus was Ironhide who was named Ian.

They all greeted Liz respectively and all were exceptionally good looking, but Liz's eyes continued to stray towards Ironhide. He noticed, and began to shift uncomfortably, glancing at Optimus, who also noticed and was smiling a little. As the circle chatted, Bumblebee nudged Raven a few times, gesturing at how awkward Ironhide was getting. It was obvious, and quite funny. Even Ratchet had cracked a grin.

Finally, when the teasing began and everyone laughed and joined in, Raven stood in her little piece of the circle, watching all of them, a smile playing on her lips. It would be times like this that she would remember when she—

"Raven?"

The girl looked to her right; Bumblebee called.

"Your lips are turning blue." The girl put a hand to her mouth, but before she could say anything, Bumblebee took off his vest and put it on her. "Does that help?"

She stared up into his eyes for a moment. Honestly, it didn't help, but it was the gesture that mattered. So she told him it did. But he made a face, because he knew she was lying. He beckoned Optimus over and when the Autobot leader saw the discoloration of the girl's lips, he took off his blazer and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Unfortunately at this time, Liz had decided to notice what was going on around her. She hooted when she saw the two good-looking men with one hand on her step-sister's shoulders, looking genuinely worried. Ironhide, glad that his little flirt session was over, grinned, more relieved than teasingly at Optimus, Bumblebee and Raven. The girl scowled.

It was a little past six o'clock in the evening when everyone left and the party was over. Mikaela, Sam, Raven and Vincent spent a near hour cleaning up, but when that was done and over, the little alien beckoned everyone outside and asked that everyone gear up.

"Why?" Sam asked, before helping Mikaela into her jacket.

"There's something I want to give you all, and I don't really want anyone else to see." The little colour left in the girl's face trickled away as she pulled on her own coat and tightened her scarf. She was nervous, everyone could tell.

However, before they could step out, Vincent pulled the girl aside. "Are you sure you want to tell them now?"

"They've waited long enough. I think they deserve it. Besides, what else am I waiting for? We should've left when I got my memories back, but we didn't because we didn't have a means of leaving—"

"And we still don't. Don't be so rash. Think about it. If you—"

"Vincent," Raven pulled her hand free of his. "I _have_ thought about it, for a long time. We can't leave now, and I don't know how long we have to wait before we _can_ leave. At first, I planned on telling them as soon as we found a way back home, but now, who knows how long that will take? I'm telling them tonight." When she turned to follow the others out the door, she found that they were all still there, watching her and Vincent with suspicion.

The two stood there for a moment bearing under the stares of the other six in awkward silence until finally Raven cleared her throat and walked out. Bumblebee waited a split second and then followed her, the others at his tail.

When in the driveway, Sam headed straight for Bumblebee's driver door, but the Autobot beat him there, sending a sullen human to the passenger side. Mikaela rolled her eyes and muttered something about not riding with the two because they 'got a little wild with the rock music.' She headed towards Ratchet, and with help from the hologram, she pulled herself up into the passenger seat of the Hummer.

Vincent and Raven would've jumped on their motorcycles, but according to the news they had just watched, the roads had gotten worse, and Mikaela had told them not to anyway. So, as Ironhide had _made_ Vincent ride with him (by grabbing him by the arm and practically dragging him to the vehicle), Raven stood for a second, staring at the yellow Camaro, in which Sam and Bumblebee were already head banging to music, before Optimus came up behind her. He put a hand on the small of her back and gently guided her towards the semi, held her hand as she literally jumped into the passenger seat of the huge truck, and heard him chuckle in that deep voice of his as he pulled away, closed the door and walked to the other side.

In the side mirror, she saw the yellow Camaro, and Bumblebee's half lit shape in the driver seat. He had stopped head banging, and was still. Half of his face was illuminated by the moon; his eyes were covered in shadows, and his mouth, his frown, tensed neck muscles and clenching, white-knuckled hands on the wheel were visible. He was staring straight forward, and it made the girl feel like he was watching her. Raven immediately looked away.

The trip was driven in silence towards the cliff where Bumblebee had taken Raven to see the sunset. When Optimus parked, he immediately got out, walked to the other side, opened the door for the girl and helped her down. However, the semi seemed to have gotten higher off of the ground, and so when she jumped, Raven practically jumped straight into Optimus' arms, making the girl blush and push away almost immediately.

Everyone gathered in circle and then turned their eyes on the girl. There was a moment's pause as she waited while a breeze blew past them. She shivered, sat on the ground, hugging her legs, and then looked straight forward, towards Ironhide, but past him.

Raven cleared her throat, licked her dry lips and then said, with a dazed look, "The thing that I brought you all here for, the thing I want to give you all is the truth."

Behind them came the sounds of the Autobots transforming. Everyone turned to watch them, and when they turned around again, the holograms were gone. The bots gathered closer to hear what she had to say, Bumblebee sitting behind her.

"As you know," Raven began, her eyes drifting towards Vincent who looked warily back at her, "I'm hiding something from you all." She didn't know what to say after this. The girl didn't just want to blurt out her biggest secret.

She cleared her throat again, and looked towards the older woman. "Mikaela, a while back, you asked me why I was here." She closed her eyes, remembering. "A few centuries back… I entered this solar system, merely drifting. I was… following something, and I'd lost it. Twelve years ago, I crash landed on Earth and lost all of my memories. I lived with Chloe Banksfield for a couple of years, and then came the incident of the battling Cybertronians that destroyed her house. I was lost then, and you found me. A couple of days after that, I left you, having gained some of my memories thanks to Bumblebee's spark and lived in an orphanage for nine years, slowly building my life on Earth. And now, here we are."

Raven stood to look at Sam, then Bumblebee and finally Vincent. The two locked eyes for a long time before the girl continued, "Sam, you asked me why I heal so quickly, and Bumblebee, you had the instinct that I was hiding something from you. As you all now know, I am."

She sighed, and began pacing in the circle, running her hands through her long hair, breathing heavily. When she stopped, she faced Optimus, craning her head to look up into his electric blue eyes.

"This is what I'm hiding…" The girl pulled from the pocket of her hoodie one of Mikaela's old cell phones. Her eyes darted towards Vincent again. He stared back and nodded slowly.

Raven raised a trembling hand over the cell phone and closed her eyes, her expression serene. There was silence for a moment, and then everyone began to notice electricity crackling gently over Raven's heart. The bolts traveled toward her hand, growing more and more intense as it got towards its destination and then shot out from her palms and fingertips, concentrating on the phone.

The girl pulled her hand away, and watched as the device trembled and then transformed into a little being with spider legs and large, electric blue eyes. It chirped a couple of times and then made its way up Raven's arm to her shoulder where it snuggled against her neck under her long mane of jet black hair.

Raven looked up at Optimus again, her scarlet eyes glittering dull blue, tiny runes in her irises, and a large, white, hardly noticeable rune on her right cheek. She opened her mouth and said in a voice that was her own, but distorted and mechanical sounding:

"I'm the All Spark."


	8. Red Eyes

**Transformers: For the Future-Chapter VIII: Red Eyes**

.

..

…

.

..

…

_Beep... Beep… Be-beep…Be-be-beep..._

_Unknown signal…Deciphering…_

.

..

…

.

..

…

.

..

_Signal deciphered. Triangulating…_

.

..

…

.

..

…

.

..

…

.

..

…

_Signal pinpointed. Locking on…_

.

..

…

_Signal locked._

This signal… This was it. At last! _He_ had predicted _its_ doom in that battle, and he was right, but he had also predicted the coming of… _this_. At last, after all the peril he'd gone through, after all the waiting and patience…

The area was dark, but that was okay, his eyes adjusted using the night vision setting. Where was he? Oh yes, he remembered. An old abandoned warehouse, to keep low from the prying eyes of his enemies. Around him, the building seemed to have collapsed in on itself, and the holes in the walls revealed a starry, night sky.

The being stood up to adjusted his rusty limbs and back, however, being as tall as he was, he made a hole in what was left of the ceiling, causing the rest of the walls to cave in at his feet.

The first things that he would do would be to find and follow the signal and reach his remaining comrades, if there were any. After the capture of the subject, they would be able to revive their leader. "All hail Megatron," Barricade murmured. He sent an encoded signal with an encrypted message out on the Decepticon COM channel, hoping that Starscream and Frenzy, the only two that he was sure had survived the battle in the city against Optimus, his teammates and those puny humans, would receive it and even possibly, other Decepticons as well.

Barricade knelt and transformed, the black and white paint of the car slightly scratched. He'd have to clean up a little. He was, after all, very sure that the humans' police vehicles didn't go around all scuffed up.

--

The signal led him to a park fifty-five miles from his hiding spot. He pulled up disguised as a black Dodge Cruiser, complete with sleek rims and as a precaution, he turned off his homing signal. Now, even if any of the Autobots showed up, no one would be able to recognize him.

The park was empty save for one person, a young human girl. Why would the signal lead him here? Only the girl and a pile of metal pipes stood on the grounds. Maybe the Spark was buried underneath all the sand and concrete. Barricade summoned a hologram. He would inspect everything.

The car door opened and his program stepped out. It was the image of a handsome young man, with fuzzy, jet black hair that reached down and covered up one of his mocking red eyes, and a tan complexion. The door closed with a snap, and the lone human girl on the swings looked up. Very well, Barricade thought, I'll start with her. His long legs took quick strides toward her and in a short moment, he was towering over the being. She looked up at him, bewildered through blue-sparkling, red eyes.

He took a moment to observe her and then stated, in a cool voice, "What beautiful eyes you have."

She looked away. "Is that what you came over here to say? I wasn't aware that they could be seen from that distance."

The corners of his mouth twitched upwards in an irritated smile. "Well, I actually thought that you could use some company. May I sit?" He gestured toward the swing next to her.

She shrugged, still not looking at him. "It's public property. Go for it."

For a long time, only the wind moved. The girl was still not facing him, and she said nothing. Barricade had no idea why he was being so patient with this human, but he figured it was worth a try. Besides, she didn't look like the type to scare easily, and he was not about to reveal himself to her just for intimidation's sake.

The girl seemed to be hiding something from him; he could tell by the way that she refused to look at him. Or was that just him over thinking things? He turned to face the girl. She seemed resolute on looking the other way and keeping her silence. The human seemed to feel his gaze on her. She adjusted her seat uncomfortably and her fingers fiddled with the chains of the swing. Eventually and suddenly, she stood up and looked at him. Her eyes were as peculiar to him as his were to her. They were almost hypnotic.

When she turned away, he found himself reaching out and grabbing her arm. Roughly, he turned the girl so that she was looking at him, an expression of alarm on her face. She tried to shake him off, but he was absolutely mystified. Her eyes were beautiful when they were drowning in fright. She grabbed at his fingers and tried to pry them off, but with no success.

"Bee!!" the girl screamed, bringing Barricade back to Earth. A young man with shocking blond hair and two black streaks came running, his face thunderous. He broke the Decepticon's grip on the girl's arm and the two went away in a rush. Barricade stood slowly and looked at his hand, still a little dazed. The roar of an engine made him look up, just in time to catch a yellow Camero with black double-S stripes turn the corner.

As realization hit him, the hologram faded, and the black Dodge drifted the bend, leaving tire marks on the dark asphalt.

--

"Bumblebee," Raven said, her voice shaking. "That guy," she took turned in her seat to look back, "he's following us."

"I know," Bee's voice filled the cabin. "Are you sure you are okay?" he asked, concern denting his impressive tone. The girl gripped her arm and bit her lip, trying her hardest to hide the pain and nodded. "Let's lose 'im." If Bumblebee had a face, surely it would've had a mischievous look on it.

The Camero led the Crusier straight towards the city, drifting corners, weaving through traffic and jumping hills. The Dodge almost had them a couple of times, trying to clip them on a bridge, speeding up to rear end them (but luckily, Bumblebee moved out of the way), even trying to corner them against a wall.

A one lane road bordered by a rough sloping hill and a side rail was approaching fast but the pursuing car was persistent. It pulled up next to them, and although the windows were tinted to a dark shadow, a flash of moonlight broke through it, allowing Raven to see that there was nobody in the car, the steering wheel turning as if by an unnatural force, and in the light's flare, the shine of something metal on the helm caught the girl's eyes. The lanes merged then and the Dodge was forced to cut back. In a few minutes, Bumblebee had lost their follower in a maze of streets in the following city.

The Autobot applied his breaks and the Camero turned an impressive one-eighty, half-moon tire tracks marking the cement. Raven stared at the road ahead, expecting to see the headlights of the black Crusier. Her breath shook as she let out a sigh of relief when after a couple, long minutes, nothing came. "How is your arm?" Bumblebee asked quietly after a few moments. The girl rubbed the limb. It no longer hurt, but she could still feel the cold fingers of that man gripping her so tightly that it squeezed her heart. The large, hand-shaped bruise that had appeared around the entire circumference of her arm was ebbing away slowly towards the center of the injury.

"It's okay now," Raven said, her voice a little hoarse.

"Let's go home then, okay?"

"…Yeah." She still had that uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, waiting for the black car to come crashing out of a wall or a couple of shrubs.

The cabin of the car was warm but quiet as the alien sat in the driver seat, her eyes pointed down, brows knitted together in thought, arms and legs crossed. Outside, snow had begun to fall. The flakes turned a bright scarlet at the red light, but oddly enough, still looked very serene. "...May I ask what is on your mind?" Bumblebee asked as the light turned green.

"His eyes…" murmured Raven.

"Excuse me?"

"His eyes, his eyes! They were… they were red. He had red eyes… And earlier, there was nobody in the car… and on the steering wheel…" She closed her eyes, but all Raven could see were the man's scarlet orbs. However, something metal catching the light of the moon kept reappearing in the girl's head, become more and more frequent until it was a consistent picture. The alien opened her eyes and gasped, bringing her fist down into her hand in realization. "That's it!" she whispered. "Bumblebee, that guy, he wasn't really a guy. He was a holographic projection! His red eyes are just like your blue ones. They give him away as what he really is!"

"And what is that?" Bumblebee asked apprehensively.

"If I'm right, he's a Decepticon." The word dropped like a heavy weight through clouds and the only answer to this was the regular sounds of a car driving on the road. "I'm glad that we lost him, otherwise, we could very well be leading him back to where the others are…" And again, Bumblebee said nothing.

But little did they know that a little ways off a black Dodge Cruiser was following them, the headlights off. The majority of Barricade's mind was on his interaction with the human girl. How captivating her eyes were. It was almost as if she put him under a spell. And her voice, although it sounded mostly like a human's, it pleased his intake sound units to listen to it. But his greatest discovery was his physical contact with her. The minute he touched her (even though it was the program that did it), he felt a great, comforting jolt that went straight to his Spark. It made him more confident in his power, it made him feel stronger, it made him feel like a brand new Decepticon, and he was not going to let that girl slip through his clutches.


	9. Getaway

**Transformers: For the Future-Chapter IX: Almost**

Immediately after the incident, Bumblebee spread the word to Optimus and the others. They no longer talked openly now, and instead conversations were shared only over the Autobot COM channel, and in short, triple encoded messages, which Ironhide found very annoying.

Raven hardly said a word either, and whenever she did, it wasn't more than two or three words, and most of the time, her messages were very vague, even with the Cybertronians. The only person who she had extended conversations with was Vincent, who was coming over and over more often these days and staying for long periods of time. It was only rarely that their talks were in a language that any of them, humans or robots, could understand. The idiom was musical and flowing; it was almost as if the two were singing a call-and-answer duet. It seemed as if the two were planning something grave or serious. Everyone could tell because the music of their voices lowered to a minor key.

Sam and Mikaela were restricted to talking about human affairs only. They were not allowed in on anything anymore; it was for their own safety, Bumblebee said. Mikaela accepted it and was thankful that the Autobots took their safety into consideration, but Sam was very persistent. Everyday, he'd try to pry information from one of the 'Bots or either of the aliens, but nobody would tell him a thing.

A full week had passed in such tight secrecy that it might've been difficult to draw breath. In that time, everyone had noticed Raven's eyes. As each day passed, they seemed to glow brighter and brighter. The strangest thing about it was that it wasn't just a crimson glow, but the tiny runes in her red orbs were becoming more and more noticeable; they were shimmering an electric blue. The symbol burned into her skin under her eye was becoming darker as well. At first, when it turned a jet black, it looked a bit like a tattoo. That is, until it continued to dim; that was when it started to look odd, unnatural. When asked about it, the girl merely feigned ignorance.

More and more, the girl would spend time up in her room, Vincent often with her, to the point when she was becoming absent at meals and even not being seen for days at a time. Eventually, a whole two weeks went by without any sighting of her.

On a dark day, when the sun was smothered by angry snow clouds, Sam and Mikaela were sitting in the living room, hot tea in their hands. The couple was snuggled up on the couch, the television, radio and lights off. On the coffee table sat a beautiful vase of red roses. The day was February fourteenth, the human holiday of love. Vincent, who hadn't left Raven's side for many weeks, came stomping down the stares, dashing away the silence of the house. "Bumblebee," he said and ran out to the drive way. "Bumblebee!" The yellow Camero gave a mechanical whine to acknowledge that he was listening. "Call the others, call Optimus! Now!"

"Vincent, what's going on?" Mikaela came out of the house, a light blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

"There's no time to explain now! Bumblebee, get the others here NOW!" the alien snapped.

Bumblebee transformed and stared down at Vincent. "They are on their way. What is going on?"

Vincent shifted nervously from foot to foot. "They're on their way."

"Who?"

Before he could answer, there was a deep rumble and in response, the ground shook ominously. The alien swore angrily, "Prepare yourselves! It's a Decepticon!" and ran into the house, pulling Mikaela and Sam along with him.

Bumblebee pulled out his canons and whipped around, in time for Barricade, transforming in midair from a black Dodge Cruiser, to come flying at him. The Autobot was tackled a good fifteen feet away from the house with a ground shattering landing. Inside, Mikaela screamed and the two humans put their hands over their heads to protect themselves from any falling debris. The fight must've been going on rough because everything in the house, as well as every house in a five mile radius, shook with an angry violence.

Vincent shoved Sam and Mikaela under the staircase and ran off to the upper landing. Sam tried to stop him, but the alien merely shook the man off. "Evalice! Evalice!" he shouted. The door to Raven's room was opening and closing due to the force of the battle outside. Vincent threw the entrance open and stormed inside. Raven was sitting on the bed, where he had left her, her eyes closed. She looked peaceful, as if there was nothing going on outside.

"Evalice!" Vincent shook her. "Wake up! You've attracted a Decepticon, we must leave!" The girl did not open her eyes. She was too deep in concentration to be awoken now. Grunting angrily, he picked Raven up and carried her bridal style to the door. The ground shook again, and Vincent nearly broke his neck stumbling down the stairs with the girl in his arms. He joined Sam and Mikaela under the staircase. The woman was sobbing hysterically into her husband's shirt and the sight of the seemingly unconscious girl only made it worse.

The roar of engines approaching outside and the whirring and clicking of Cybertronian bodies forming signaled the arrival of the others. "Optimus!" Mikaela gasped desperately. The whoosh of a dangerous jet, the ominous laughter, and the heavy footsteps of a large, frightful being immediately snuffed out their hope.

"It's Starscream! We have to get out of the vicinity, right now!" Vincent yelled. Sam and Mikaela were frozen to the spot with fear. "What're you waiting for?! MOVE!"

The man grabbed his wife firmly by the arm and dragged her out of the house, the alien in tow with the girl still unconscious in his arms. They fled two blocks but still, they could see the Autobots battling Barricade and Starscream. Hundreds of people were fleeing the site and the surrounding area, screaming in terror and looking over their shoulders in awestruck horror at the battling robots.

The fight was taking a turn for the worst. There may have been four Autobots and two Decepticons, but it did not look good for the heroes. The red-eyed bots were fighting dirty and didn't care for the little human habitats, stepping on and plowing through them like they weren't there. At one point, Barricade and Starscream double-teamed Bumblebee. The jet transformer fired a missile at nearly point-blank and while the Camero was recuperating, the Cruiser tackled him to the ground, letting out a barrage of punches while the F-22 handled and distracted the others. Ratchet managed to pry Barricade from Bumblebee, but only after the poor scout's spark casing became exposed.

"Bumblebee!" Mikaela and Sam shrieked in fear from their distance. They tried to run to their friend, but Vincent stopped them.

"Stop!" he yelled, his voice becoming scratchy from all his bellowing before. "You won't be able to do anything for him now! You'll only get in the way!" He put Raven on the ground. "The only person who can help is Evalice, but she is…" His sentence died away as he glared down in frustration at the girl, who looked innocent and peaceful at his feet.

Mikaela grabbed the alien by his shoulders and shook him. "Who is Evalice! Where is she?! Where is she now!" Before Vincent could answer, many things happened all at once.

The ground gave another ominous shake, revealing a dark, foreboding crack that led from the site of the fighting Cybertronians all the way to where Sam, Mikaela and Vincent stood. A bloodcurdling, agonized, mechanical whine cut through the air. Mikaela started crying and Sam shouted out for Bumblebee. Snow started to fall then, and everything fell silent, as if the flakes absorbed all noise, leaving a world in soundless chaos and destruction. Raven opened her eyes then. As she stood, the earth seemed to slow down. Her face matched the colour of the snow, her glowing eyes, now a blood red, and the electric blue runes rotating three hundred sixty degrees around her pupils, were pointed towards the fight.

Raven was dressed in thin clothes and she wore no shoes, but while Sam, Mikaela, and even Vincent stood shivering, their teeth chattering, she alone seemed unaffected by the cold. "Evalice…" Vincent murmured in a sing-song dialect, relief and hope dancing out of his mouth.

The girl turned to her friend. "Ghis," her voice was melodic too, "I'm almost…" She turned and walked the other way, back towards the house, the sentence dying on her lips.

"Raven!" the woman called, but she received no response.

When the girl arrived at the fight, everything was at a standstill. Bumblebee, lying at the end of the street, was badly damaged, his spark casing completely ripped from his chest, connected only by a few precious wires. Whether he was still online and functional or not wasn't evident. Ratchet and Barricade were in a stand off, the latter having the advantage, his opponent on his knees and struggling to fight back. Ironhide, also badly damaged and pinned to a smashed house, was in Starscream's one-handed vice grip strangle while his other hand focused a large cannon at Optimus, the leader's face guard up and his red blade drawn.

The silence was broken by Raven's soft, melodic voice. "Please," she said quietly. Every conscious eye turned on her. "Please stop." Nobody moved, and nobody said anything. The girl pointed her glowing eyes at Barricade. "You came for me, didn't you?" her voice was sad, injured. When the Decepticon said nothing, Raven walked, practically glided, to Bumblebee, where she stroked the scuffed, sunshine yellow armour of his still arm. She spoke quietly to him in her musical language and stroked his fingers. Gentle blue surges of electricity flowed from her fingertips to his.

Slowly, but surely, Bumblebee gained consciousness. He let out a mechanical whine, expressing the pain that was gradually taking him over. Raven gripped his index finger, hoping to let him know that she was there with him. "Why did you seek me?" she asked Barricade, although she was looking at Bumblebee's pained expression, her beautiful eyes full of worry.

Before the Decepticon could answer her, Starscream turned his large cannon and pointed it directly Raven. It charged a deep blue and the loud boom of the shell leaving the barrel was deafening, roaring over Barricade's angry bellow of, "NO!" The Cruiser threw the medic aside and dove forward.

Scooping the girl up in his large hands, he cradled her near his chest, his armour taking the brunt of the attack, protecting her and Bumblebee, not intending to safeguard the Autobot. Barricade straightened himself, Raven still in his large hand and growled angrily at the other Decepticon. "You fool!" he shouted. "What were you thinking?! She is the reason I even dealt with these worthless Autobots!"

There was a whirring behind him. "Put the girl down," Bumblebee said, his voice low and fuzzy with static, his cannons out and aimed at Barricade's head at point-blank distance. "Now." It was not a threat; the promise to destroy the Cruiser echoed in his fading voice. Ratchet, having gotten to his feet a moment ago, had his guns on both of the Decepticons.

Starscream's resolve broke a little, because now even Ironhide's intimidating cannons were charging up, and both of them were pointed directly at him, but Barricade only let out a low chuckle. "What will you do if I do not comply? Shoot me? You will only put this girl in danger, and I know you would not want to risk that." His metal lips had tilted into a devious smirk. "As dim as you Autobots are, you must have figured out the oddity of this girl. She is intriguing, and I think I would like to take her with me to… study." The bot's hand closed around Raven's waist, squeezing a bit until she started to squirm.

No, Barricade most definitely would not surrender her any time soon. He enjoyed having her there, helplessly in his hand, even near him. All around them was nothing but cold, it had even started to snow heavily, but in his hand, he felt nothing but warmth, and it was all coming from that human girl, who began to crop up sneaking suspicions of her own being in his head.

"PUT HER DOWN!" Bumblebee screamed, his voice, although fading, was loud, echoing his rage.

At that time, Sam and Mikaela, closely followed by an exasperated Vincent, came running into the scene. The married couple, horrified by what they saw, cried out and ran to Bumblebee, weeping. Vincent stood where he was, terrified for the girl.

"Get away!" Ratchet called.

But before the humans could move, Starscream turned his cannons on them and fired. An explosion of concrete and black, evil smoke filled the air, smothering screams with the deafening bang. The medic, the only able bot to do so, dove forward to shield the small beings from any flying debris.

When the dust settled and the only thing still falling heavily was the snow, Starscream and Barricade had gone, Raven with them.

Vincent raised his head from his shield of arms, his eyes wide, looking around. "If they use her for what I think they'll use her for… then we're all doomed."


End file.
